You are allowed to keep and renew the policy, but only for a short amount of time. Starting on September 1, 2024, federal regulations will only allow a consumer to have a short-term limited duration health insurance policy for a maximum period of four months including extensions and renewals. Short-term limited duration policies usually exclude coverage for pre-existing health conditions. At renewal, any health condition that you developed while covered under the policy can be considered pre-existing, and so any care related to it may not be covered. Additionally, you may experience a gap in coverage if a short-term limited duration policy is your main form of coverage when you become sick. For example, if a patient is diagnosed with a chronic illness while they have a short term plan, they may be covered for the portion of time that they have coverage under the plan, but may experience a gap in coverage once the short term plan ends since you must wait until Open Enrollment to enroll in the Marketplace, unless you qualify for a “special enrollment” opportunity. Note that loss of coverage under a short-term limited duration policy will not qualify you for a special enrollment period in the Marketplace.