Open Enrollment 2027

ACA Open Enrollment has opened on November 1 every year under current federal rules, so November 1, 2026 is the planning date for 2027 coverage. We mark it as expected rather than confirmed until CMS publishes the plan-year notice. Medicare Open Enrollment runs October 15 to December 7.

Federal Marketplace states have used a mid-December deadline in recent years, while several state-based exchanges set later dates. Confirm your own state's deadline before relying on a national date.

Your coverage normally starts on the first day of the following month rather than January 1, so a late-December or January application usually means a February 1 start date. You are still insured for the rest of the year — you just carry a gap you did not need.

Broadly, you can use the Marketplace if you live in the United States, are a citizen or lawfully present, and are not incarcerated. Being offered affordable job-based coverage does not block you from buying a Marketplace plan, but it usually blocks you from premium tax credits. Medicare enrollees do not buy Marketplace plans.

Premium tax credit eligibility is based on your household income for the plan year, your household size, and whether you have access to other affordable coverage. Because it is forward-looking, you estimate the income and reconcile it on your tax return. If your income is very low, Medicaid or CHIP may cover you instead, with no enrollment window at all.

Yes. Medicare has its own enrollment windows tied to your 65th birthday, and staying on a Marketplace plan once you are Medicare-eligible can cost you both subsidies and late-enrollment penalties. Treat Medicare timing as a separate calendar from ACA Open Enrollment.

List your doctors, your prescriptions with dosages, and the care you already know you need next year. Then estimate your household income for the plan year, since that determines premium tax credit eligibility. Doing this in September or October means you can enrol in an hour rather than a week.

Compare on total annual cost, not the monthly premium: twelve premiums, plus the deductible and copays for care you already expect, capped at the out-of-pocket maximum. Then check each of your doctors against the specific plan's network and each prescription against its formulary tier. Two plans with the same premium can differ by thousands once those are in.

Auto-renewal is convenient and frequently expensive. Networks, formularies, deductibles and the benchmark plan that sets your subsidy all change year to year, so the plan that was cheapest last year often is not this year. Re-shopping takes an hour and is the single highest-value thing you can do in the window.

You generally need a qualifying life event — marriage, birth or adoption, a permanent move, or losing job-based coverage — to open a Special Enrollment Period, usually lasting 60 days. Medicaid and CHIP accept applications year-round with no window.