Alternatives to short-term insurance in NY where it is banned (uninsured husband missed special enrollment)

Hello, I think our options are limited but if there is anything I am missing would appreciate it! Got married in April in NY. I have insurance through my employer. I had 30 days to add husband. I had thought my husband’s employer did not offer insurance but found out within the 30 days that they do and he had just never bothered to enroll (still pretty annoyed about it tbh). After checking rates for my employer’s family plan I asked husband to contact HR for his insurer’s rate because family premium was double. Looked like it would be cheapest to keep two separate plans. I had thought our marriage would be a qualifying event, and assumed husband would be able to enroll in his individual plan. His insurance had a 60 day window to change the plan after marriage. He called HR today and now I realize that our marriage did not create an event that allows him to enroll in health insurance if he did not have it before—only to add me if he was already enrolled. His next open enrollment is not until spring next year, and the period that I could have added him has now expired. I looked to see if we could get an individual plan for him on NY’s marketplace to fill the gap until next open enrollment. But even though we are within the 60 day window for marriage as a special enrollment period it looks like New York won’t let him get a plan because he did not previously have insurance coverage in the past 59 days. So is that it? Is there anything else we can do to get some kind of coverage for him between now and next year? NY has banned short term insurance but could we do hospital indemnity? Going six months with nothing for him and joint finances worries me. I am trying to look forward and not dwell on his incredibly inane reasons for not bothering to get health insurance sooner, but would really feel better if there was any sort of catastrophic coverage we could get. Joint income is over $200K so def don’t qualify for Medicaid or the Essential Plan.

submitted by /u/Honest_Direction_861
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