Extended Short-Term Health Insurance in Idaho

Idaho's real extended option is the Enhanced Short-Term Plan: guaranteed issue, near-full essential health benefits, and up to 36 months renewable. Traditional short-term is capped at six months here.

At a glance

Idaho has a distinctive long-duration option: the Enhanced Short-Term Plan (ESTP), which can run up to 36 months, renewable at your option.
ESTPs are near-ACA products sold off-exchange — guaranteed issue, and they cover a near-full set of essential health benefits (including maternity and newborn care, mental health, and prescription drugs), which is unusual for short-term coverage.
Traditional short-term plans in Idaho are capped at a 6-month total and are non-renewable — so the ESTP, not traditional short-term, is the real extended option.
Idaho runs its own marketplace, Your Health Idaho, for ACA plans, and Idaho expanded Medicaid in 2020.

What Idaho allows for extended coverage

Idaho is a special case (Idaho Code Title 41, Chapter 52; IDAPA 18.04.15), with two distinct kinds of short-term coverage:

Traditional short-term (STLDI) — the initial term can be up to 12 months, but the total duration, including any renewals or reissuance, may not exceed 6 months; it is non-renewable and can't be reissued within 63 days. In other words, traditional short-term is a brief bridge only.
Enhanced Short-Term Plan (ESTP) — the initial term is under 12 months, renewable at the individual's option up to a 36-month total. This is Idaho's genuine extended-coverage vehicle.

ESTPs are near-ACA-equivalent products sold off the exchange. They are guaranteed issue and guaranteed renewable/convertible: after at least 11 months of ESTP coverage, you may enroll in any of that insurer's ACA plans regardless of open enrollment. They must cover a near-full essential-health-benefit set — ambulatory, emergency, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance-use services, prescription drugs, rehabilitation, laboratory, and preventive care — except pediatric dental and vision. They carry an annual benefit-limit floor of at least $1,000,000, coinsurance of no more than 50%, and a maximum out-of-pocket of no more than 4% of the aggregate annual limit, with no gender rating and a single individual-market risk pool. To sell an ESTP, a carrier must also offer qualified health plans on Your Health Idaho in the same service area.

For context, after the 2024 federal rule paused ESTP sales in late 2024, that federal cap is currently not being enforced (per the August 7, 2025 federal statement), and the Idaho Department of Insurance confirmed in January 2026 that both traditional short-term plans and ESTPs are allowed again; ESTPs returned to the market in early 2026. The framework itself dates to 2019 and has not changed by statute.

Your extended options in Idaho

For a longer coverage gap, here's what's realistically on the table (described as coverage types, not specific products):

Enhanced Short-Term Plan (ESTP) — Idaho's long-duration option: up to 36 months, renewable, guaranteed issue, with a near-full set of essential health benefits. It's the closest thing to comprehensive coverage outside the exchange, and it includes a conversion path into an ACA plan after about 11 months.
ACA marketplace plans through Your Health Idaho — fully comprehensive coverage with possible income-based subsidies. The route for a genuinely long-term need if you qualify for savings.
Traditional short-term plans — a short (6-month total) bridge only, not an extended option.

As an independent, carrier-neutral brokerage, we don't push any single insurer. Because the ESTP has both near-ACA benefits and a conversion path into marketplace coverage, we'll walk you through whether an ESTP or a marketplace plan fits your situation.

How enrollment works here

Enhanced Short-Term Plans and traditional short-term plans can be applied for year-round. Because ESTPs are guaranteed issue and include a conversion right into an ACA plan after about 11 months, they behave differently from typical short-term coverage — you can't be turned down for an ESTP based on your health.

For fully comprehensive coverage, Idaho uses its own state marketplace, Your Health Idaho (yourhealthidaho.org), where ACA plans have an annual Open Enrollment (typically each fall through early winter) and Special Enrollment Periods for qualifying life events. Idaho expanded Medicaid in 2020, so it's worth checking your eligibility there as well.

What it costs

We don't quote premiums here — prices depend on your situation — but the cost of extended short-term coverage in Idaho is driven by:

Your age — older applicants generally pay more.
Where you live in Idaho — pricing varies by rating area.
Tobacco use — can affect the rate.
Who's covered — an individual, a couple, or a whole family.
The deductible and coverage level you choose — lower out-of-pocket exposure usually means a higher premium.
The length of the term — an ESTP can run toward a 36-month total, while a traditional short-term plan is capped at six months.
How the plan is issued — an ESTP is guaranteed issue, so your health history doesn't factor into eligibility; a traditional short-term plan is medically underwritten.

For an ACA plan through Your Health Idaho, cost depends on income (which determines subsidy eligibility), age, area, tobacco use, and the metal tier you pick.

MG Matthew T. Giberti Licensed Expert · NPN 20698856 · Updated July 2026

Idaho offers two kinds of short-term coverage with very different features. A traditional short-term plan is medically underwritten, may exclude pre-existing conditions, is capped at a six-month total, and is not required to cover the essential health benefits. An Enhanced Short-Term Plan (ESTP) is guaranteed issue and covers a near-full set of essential health benefits except pediatric dental and vision, but it is sold off the exchange, is not a qualified health plan, and does not qualify for ACA premium subsidies. Neither is a substitute for evaluating a marketplace plan if you may be eligible for subsidies.

GetHealthPlans.com is operated by MTG Insurance Agency, an independent, carrier-neutral brokerage. We do not issue insurance and are not a government agency or the health insurance marketplace. Regulatory details on this page reflect Idaho law and Idaho Department of Insurance guidance as of the last-reviewed date and can change; confirm current terms and the specific plan's approved form before you enroll.