Open Enrollment 2027: Dates, Deadlines and What’s Different

Published September 14, 2026 · Daniel Griffin, Licensed Independent Advisor · NPN #22052447

Open Enrollment for 2027 coverage opens November 1, 2026 and, on HealthCare.gov, closes January 15, 2027. Pick a plan by December 15 and it starts January 1. That is the whole calendar for most people. The rest of this page is about why 2027 is a year to actually use it.

The Dates

• November 1, 2026: Open Enrollment opens in every state.
• December 15, 2026: the last day to pick a plan that starts January 1, 2027.
• January 15, 2027: HealthCare.gov closes. A plan picked between December 16 and January 15 starts February 1.

For most of 2026 those dates were in doubt. A 2025 federal rule would have shortened Open Enrollment beginning with 2027 coverage; a federal court vacated that change in June 2026, and CMS has since confirmed the November 1 to January 15 window for HealthCare.gov.

If Your State Runs Its Own Marketplace

Six of the 23 states I work in run their own marketplace: Colorado (Connect for Health Colorado), Georgia (Georgia Access), Illinois (Get Covered Illinois), Maryland (Maryland Health Connection), Nevada (Nevada Health Link) and Virginia (Virginia’s Insurance Marketplace). Each opens November 1 and sets its own closing date, so don’t assume January 15. A plan picked by December 15 starts January 1 in all of them. The other 17 states use HealthCare.gov.

What Is Different About 2027

Prices are rising faster than usual. Insurers’ average 2027 increases in my 23 states run from 6.0% in Arkansas to 21.6% in Oklahoma, and 12 of the 23 are above 15%. Most of those are still requested rates. The full list, with which figures are final, is in the 2027 rate increases by state.

Several insurers are leaving. Cigna leaves the individual market in 10 of my states (the details of that exit), and a handful of smaller insurers are pulling out of single states:

• Arkansas: Celtic and QualChoice did not file 2027 rates
• Colorado: Cigna (about 41,000 members) — what it means in Colorado
• Florida: Cigna — what it means in Florida
• Georgia: Cigna — what it means in Georgia
• Illinois: Cigna — what it means in Illinois
• Indiana: Cigna and CareSource — what it means in Indiana
• Kansas: Medica (about 600 members) — what it means in Kansas
• Mississippi: Cigna and Molina
• North Carolina: Cigna — what it means in North Carolina
• Ohio: CareSource
• Oklahoma: Medica (about 6,500 members) and Mending Health (about 8,000 members) — what it means in Oklahoma
• Tennessee: Cigna — what it means in Tennessee
• Texas: Cigna — what it means in Texas
• Virginia: Cigna — what it means in Virginia
• Wisconsin: Molina

If you are on one of those plans and do nothing, the marketplace may move you into a plan from a different insurer, with a different network. How that automatic re-enrollment works.

The 400% income limit is still there. The enhanced credits expired after 2025, so a household above 400% of the federal poverty level gets no premium tax credit in 2027 and pays the full price, increase included. How sharp that line is: the one-dollar subsidy cliff.

Before December 15

• Find your renewal notice. It says whether your plan is still sold in 2027 and what it will cost. It arrives in the fall and looks like junk mail.
• Check the 2027 network, not this year’s. Doctors and hospitals change networks on January 1. Confirm with the practice itself.
• Check the 2027 drug list. A prescription that moves up a tier can cost more than the premium change.
• Compare the 2027 deductible and out-of-pocket maximum against what you have now.
• Update your income estimate for 2027, not 2026.

Self-Employed? Do the Income Estimate First

The marketplace prices your credit on the household income you expect for 2027. For a sole proprietor that starts from net profit after business expenses, less adjustments such as half of self-employment tax and retirement contributions. The credit is settled on your 2027 tax return, so an estimate that turns out too low gets paid back when you file, and one that lands just over the 400% line can cost you the whole credit. It’s the one number worth getting right before you look at a single plan.

Missed It?

After Open Enrollment closes, you need a qualifying life event to enroll, such as losing other coverage, moving, getting married or having a baby. Losing a plan because your insurer left the market generally counts. Medicaid and CHIP take applications all year.

If You’d Rather Hand It Off

Give me your ZIP and I’ll tell you what your county has for 2027, whether your current plan survived, and what you’d pay after any credit. If the right answer is to stay where you are, I’ll say that too. State-by-state detail is on Open Enrollment 2027 by state.

Rate figures are insurers’ average filed changes for 2027 as compiled by ACASignups.net from state rate filings, checked September 14, 2026; most are requested, not final. Exits are from Cigna’s April 30, 2026 announcement and state filing summaries. Verify all figures at enrollment. Nothing here is an offer of coverage. Daniel Griffin is a licensed independent insurance agent, NPN #22052447, not tied to any single carrier and not affiliated with the U.S. government. Moving between states? See Plans By State. Checking whether a plan covers your hospital? See Plans By City.