What documents do I need to apply for Marketplace insurance?

The papers to gather before you start, plus the document requests that arrive after you enroll and can end coverage when people ignore them.

Updated September 3, 2026 · 3 min read · by Gerino Alejos

Key points

Have names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, pay records and immigration papers ready before you start. The application takes about half an hour.
List everyone on your tax return, even people who will not be on the plan. Household size changes the help you get.
After you enroll, the Marketplace may ask you to prove your income or your status, and a missed deadline can end your coverage.

You need names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, pay records, and immigration papers for anyone who has them. You also need details of any coverage offered through a job. All of it goes to the Marketplace, the government website where you shop for a plan and ask for help paying for it.

The application takes about half an hour when the papers are in front of you.

For everyone in the household

Full legal names, as they appear on your tax return.
Dates of birth.
Social Security numbers for anyone who has one.
Your home address, and your mailing address if it is different.

List everyone on your tax return, even people who will not be on the plan. Household size changes your subsidy, the money from the government that lowers your monthly bill.

Immigration documents, if applicable

A permanent resident card, and the number on it.
An employment authorization document.
Visa and passport information.
A notice of action for an application still pending.
Any other paper that shows you are lawfully present.

See who qualifies for a plan.

Income

Recent pay stubs, or a letter from your employer.
Last year's tax return, as a starting point.
Profit and loss records if you work for yourself. What counts is income after business costs.
Unemployment benefit statements.
Social Security benefit statements, including the part that is not taxed.
Records of rental, interest, dividend or retirement income.

You are guessing at the year ahead, not reporting the year behind. See how self employed income works.

Employer coverage information

If anyone in your household is offered coverage through a job, the Marketplace asks about it in detail. Ask the employer to fill out the coverage tool worksheet, or at least get these details.

The employer's name and how to reach them.
Whether coverage is offered, and to whom.
Whether the plan meets minimum value, a level of coverage the law sets.
The premium, the monthly bill, for the lowest cost employee only plan that meets it.

An offer that is open to you and affordable usually rules out a subsidy, so answer with care.

For choosing the plan afterward

The names of your doctors, and the hospital you would use.
A current list of your medicines, with the dose of each.
Your pharmacy.

The part that catches people out

After you enroll, the Marketplace often asks for papers that prove your income, your identity, your citizenship or your immigration status. The requests come by mail and in your Marketplace account. Each one has a hard deadline. Miss one and your coverage or your subsidy can end. It is the most common way careful people lose their plan.

Check your Marketplace inbox and your mail through the first few months. Send each paper as soon as it is asked for, not close to the deadline. Papers sometimes have to go in twice.

Watch for Form 1095-A in January. You need it to file your taxes and settle up the premium tax credit, the help that lowered your bill during the year. See how the credit is settled up and the application walkthrough.

Gather these papers, then finish the application in one sitting. To go through it with someone, call our McAllen office at (956) 687 3334, or use the ZIP form on this page.

Common follow-up questions

Do I need a Social Security number?

You give one for each person who has one. Some lawfully present immigrants do not have one. They can still apply with the numbers on their immigration papers.

What if I cannot estimate my income?

Give the closest figure you can, then tell the Marketplace when it changes. If you work for yourself, look at it again during the year.

What happens if I miss a document deadline?

Your coverage or your subsidy can be ended. Call the Marketplace right away. It can sometimes be put back if you act quickly.

Want this looked at properly?

We are an independent agency in McAllen serving Hidalgo, Cameron and Starr counties. There is no obligation to talk it through.

Call (956) 687 3334

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