Moving back to the US from abroad and will have a ±45-60 day lapse in insurance. What should I do about this?

Hi all! I’m from North Carolina but have lived abroad for the past couple of years. I’ve had insurance in the country where I’m living and it’s been super easy and affordable- definitely a stark contrast to how things work back home.

I’ve resigned from this job abroad and will be losing my insurance on August 16th. I’m moving back to NC on August 25th and starting a new job on August 28th. The catch is, I don’t think my health insurance kicks in until either October 1 or November 1. Specifically, my health insurance through my new employer kicks in after either 30 calendar days or 1 calendar month after my start date. I need to figure this out better.

Within that time period, I’m going to be traveling around quite a bit (weddings, visiting family, etc.) and have no insurance. My biggest fear is that I get into some kind of accident and am unlucky enough to need to come out of pocket.

As for the specific insurance I’ll have at the new gig, I don’t have that info quite yet either.

What are my best options for making sure I’m covered during this time? Any direction helps- this system is crazy to navigate!