Open enrollment for 2027 health coverage begins November 1, and in the states that use HealthCare.gov, it will run all the way to January 15. That correction matters, because a federal rule finalized last year would have closed the federal window on December 15 instead.
A judge vacated that provision in June, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed the schedule in writing. In an August statement on the litigation, CMS Deputy Administrator Peter Nelson wrote that open enrollment at the federally facilitated exchange will begin November 1, 2026, and end January 15, 2027.
Households should still treat December 15 as a working deadline. It remains the cutoff for coverage that starts January 1, and plans selected after that date generally begin February 1. A family that waits until early January and needs care in the first week of the year would face a month without coverage.
Two Dates, Two Different Consequences
The distinction between the two deadlines is the single most useful thing to understand this fall. December 15 governs when coverage starts. January 15 governs whether a person can enroll at all in a HealthCare.gov state.
State-run marketplaces set their own calendars, and several adjusted their dates twice this year as the litigation moved. Anyone in California, New York, Massachusetts, Idaho or another state with its own exchange should confirm the schedule on that state's site rather than assuming the federal dates apply. Idaho's window has historically closed in mid-December.
Oregon residents face a separate change. The state is moving off HealthCare.gov to a state-run platform called Explore Health for 2027, and accounts are migrated automatically. The new site opened for browsing ahead of open enrollment in early October, and one consumer guide's rundown of the changes notes that nearly 106,000 Oregonians had marketplace coverage earlier this year.
Because several deadlines shifted mid-year, outdated December 15 end dates are still circulating on insurance brokerage and benefits-consulting websites. The CMS statement above is the controlling document for federal marketplace states.
Premiums Are Rising for a Second Straight Year
Insurers requested a median premium increase of 15 percent for 2027, according to the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, which reviewed filings from 276 marketplace insurers across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Requests ranged from a 1 percent decrease to a 54 percent increase, and 51 insurers asked for more than 25 percent.
That follows an 18 percent median request for 2026 that finalized at 20 percent. If the 2027 numbers hold, typical premiums among participating marketplace insurers will have climbed by more than one-third over two years.
Most enrollees will not absorb the full increase. About 87 percent of marketplace enrollees received premium subsidies in 2026, and subsidies rise alongside the benchmark silver plan premium. The people exposed to the full amount are those just above four times the federal poverty level, who became ineligible for subsidies when the enhanced premium tax credits expired, and anyone buying coverage off-exchange.
KFF's analysts illustrate the compounding effect with a 40-year-old in Indianapolis earning $65,000 who is enrolled in a specific Anthem silver plan. That person paid $316 a month with enhanced credits, $477 in 2026, and would pay $546 in 2027 if filings are approved. The cumulative increase is $158 a month, or 41 percent, for the same coverage.
Insurers attribute the increases mainly to rising medical prices, with a median medical trend of 10 percent, plus general inflation, hospital labor costs, and spending on GLP-1 drugs. Several also cite a sicker remaining risk pool after healthier enrollees dropped coverage.
Auto-Renewal Is the Year's Biggest Trap
Insurers are leaving marketplaces across many states for 2027. Cigna alone will stop offering marketplace coverage in the 11 states where it participates, affecting roughly 369,000 enrollees, and Molina Healthcare is shrinking its footprint from 14 states to six, according to KFF's tracking of insurer participation. If a plan ends, the auto-renewal process assigns a replacement using an algorithm rather than a person's own judgment about doctors and prescriptions.
The out-of-pocket ceiling is also moving. For 2027, the maximum allowable out-of-pocket limit is $12,000 for an individual and $24,000 for a family, up from $10,600 and $21,200. A separate provision that would have let some bronze plans go as high as $15,600 was stayed by a federal court in July, so $12,000 is the ceiling for a single person.
Two eligibility changes will catch specific households. Under the budget reconciliation law enacted last year, marketplace subsidies are narrowed beginning with plan year 2027, and some lawfully present immigrants who can still buy coverage will no longer qualify for financial help. Separately, the same July court order stayed an expansion of catastrophic plan eligibility, so anyone 30 or older still needs a hardship or affordability exemption certificate, and that paperwork takes time to process.
Steps Worth Taking Before November 1
Read the renewal notice from the insurer and the marketplace when it arrives in the fall. It will state the new full-price premium and, where applicable, the premium after subsidies, which is the number that determines affordability.
Verify three specifics for the exact plan under consideration rather than the plan family: whether current clinicians are in network, whether each prescription is on the formulary, and what the deductible and out-of-pocket maximum are. A lower monthly premium paired with a higher deductible frequently costs more across a year for anyone managing diabetes, asthma, heart disease or cancer follow-up.
Anyone whose income has changed should update the estimate at HealthCare.gov, since subsidies are calculated from projected income and differences are reconciled at tax time. Free help is available from marketplace navigators, and Medicare beneficiaries can use State Health Insurance Assistance Programs at no cost.
What to watch next: whether an appeal revives the shorter federal window, whether Congress acts on enhanced premium tax credits, and final approved rates in each state. MedicalDaily will report confirmed changes to the calendar.
Key Questions Answered
When does open enrollment start and end? It opens November 1. In states using HealthCare.gov, it ends January 15, per the CMS statement issued in August.
Why do some websites still say December 15? A 2025 federal rule would have ended the federal window then, but a judge vacated that provision in June, and CMS confirmed the January 15 end date.
Does December 15 still matter? Yes. It is the deadline for coverage beginning January 1. Plans chosen afterward generally start February 1.
How much are premiums rising? Insurers requested a median increase of 15 percent for 2027, with a range from a 1 percent cut to a 54 percent increase.
Will subsidies absorb the increase? Partly. Subsidies rise with the benchmark plan, but people above four times the federal poverty level and off-exchange buyers pay the full amount.
What is the new out-of-pocket ceiling? $12,000 for an individual in 2027, up from $10,600 in 2026.
Is auto-renewal safe? It carries risk this year. Several insurers are exiting states, and terminated plans are replaced algorithmically rather than by choice.
