A Reader Asks: Can Foreign Visitors Buy Health Insurance Exchange Plans? - ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø News /insurance/andrews-question-can-foreign-visitors-buy-exchange-policies/ ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø News produces in-depth journalism on health issues and is a core operating program of KFF. Thu, 16 Apr 2026 04:50:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 /wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=32 A Reader Asks: Can Foreign Visitors Buy Health Insurance Exchange Plans? - ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø News /insurance/andrews-question-can-foreign-visitors-buy-exchange-policies/ 32 32 161476233 A Reader Asks: Can Foreign Visitors Buy Health Insurance Exchange Plans? /insurance/andrews-question-can-foreign-visitors-buy-exchange-policies/ /insurance/andrews-question-can-foreign-visitors-buy-exchange-policies/#comments Fri, 07 Feb 2014 05:01:00 +0000 http://khn.wp.alley.ws/news/andrews-question-can-foreign-visitors-buy-exchange-policies/ Q. Does Obamacare offer coverage to visitors to the United States who plan to stay for up to six months?

A Reader Asks: Can Foreign Visitors Buy Health Insurance Exchange Plans?

A. Even if you’re visiting the United States for several months, you generally won’t be eligible to buy a health plan on the health insurance marketplace, say experts.

In addition to United States citizens, the exchanges are open to people who are “” in the United States. If you’re here as a tourist or have a non-immigrant visa, you’ll likely satisfy that requirement, says Jenny Rejeske, a health policy analyst at the National Immigration Law Center.

More From This Series Insuring Your Health

A Reader Asks: Can Foreign Visitors Buy Health Insurance Exchange Plans?

But there’s also a residency requirement to buy coverage on a state marketplace. In general, “you have to be living in the state and intend to reside in the state,” or work there, says Rejeske. It’s unlikely that someone who’s in the United States temporarily would meet those tests, she says.

ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

This <a target="_blank" href="/insurance/andrews-question-can-foreign-visitors-buy-exchange-policies/">article</a&gt; first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="">KFF Health News</a> and is republished here under a <a target="_blank" href=" Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src="/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150&quot; style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;">

<img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="/?republication-pixel=true&post=33347&amp;ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0&quot; style="width:1px;height:1px;">]]>
/insurance/andrews-question-can-foreign-visitors-buy-exchange-policies/feed/ 7 33347