Marketplace Open Enrollment 2027: How to Apply or Switch Plans

Open enrollment for 2027 Marketplace health plans runs November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027 on HealthCare.gov, and you pick a plan by December 15 for coverage that starts January 1. Covered California runs to January 31, with a December 31 cutoff for January 1, and 20 other states and D.C. also run their own marketplaces. If you already have a Marketplace plan and do nothing, you are usually re-enrolled automatically, with savings figured from old information. On November 1, log in, update your 2027 income and household, compare plans and enroll.

Find the marketplace that serves your state

HealthCare.gov handles enrollment for most states. For 2027, these states run their own marketplace instead: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, along with D.C. Oregon is new: from November 1, Oregonians enroll at ExploreHealthOR.gov. Idaho runs on its own calendar: Your Health Idaho opened October 15 and closes December 15. Unsure? Pick your state on HealthCare.gov's Marketplace in your state page and it shows where you apply.

Only the official marketplace, used directly or through a helper, gives the premium tax credit and other savings.

2027 deadlines

On HealthCare.gov, Pennie and Covered California, a plan picked after the January 1 cutoff but before open enrollment closes starts February 1.

A June 2026 court ruling preserved these January end dates; the government has appealed, and our ACA premium tax credit guide covers what changes if it wins. The January 1 cutoffs hold either way.

What to have ready

Gather these for everyone in your tax household, even people not applying:

• Social Security numbers for each household member, and immigration document information for each lawfully present immigrant who needs coverage.
• Your tax filing plan: joint or separate return if married, and who you will claim as dependents.
• Income records for every household member: W-2s and pay stubs, self-employment profit, unemployment, Social Security other than SSI, pensions, and investment or rental income.
• Your best estimate of 2027 household income. A careful guess is fine; you update it when income changes.
• Policy numbers for anyone covered now, from their insurance card.
• Job-based coverage details for anyone offered a plan at work, even if they turned it down. The employer can fill out items 4 to 12 of the Employer Coverage Tool.

Apply step by step

1. Open your account. Returning customers log in to last year's account. New on HealthCare.gov? Enter your name, address and email, create a username, password and security questions, and pick text, email or phone for login codes. Then verify your identity; if that fails online, you get a number to call or a request for copies of identity documents.
2. Fill out the 2027 application, or update last year's. The same application checks whether anyone qualifies for Medicaid or CHIP, and in California one application covers both Covered California and Medi-Cal.
3. Read the eligibility notice under Messages in your account. It shows your savings and any documents the Marketplace needs. Upload them fast: you get 90 days to back up an income figure that differs from Marketplace records and 95 days to confirm citizenship or immigration status, and a missed deadline can cost you the savings or the plan.
4. Compare plans and enroll, using the checks below.
5. Pay the first premium to the insurance company, not the Marketplace. On HealthCare.gov, open your application, select "Pay Your First Health Insurance Monthly Premium," then "Pay for Health Plan Now." Otherwise, wait for the insurer's bill; Covered California says it usually takes about two weeks.
6. Confirm it went through. "My Plans & Programs" in your account lists the plan and its start date, and the insurer mails your ID card once it receives payment.

Compare plans on total cost, network and drugs

Browse plans and estimated prices without an account: HealthCare.gov's plan preview adds 2027 plans just before November 1, and Covered California has its Shop and Compare tool. Then weigh three things:

• Metal level sets how you and the plan split costs, and says nothing about quality of care. The plan pays about 60% of covered costs on Bronze, 70% on Silver, 80% on Gold and 90% on Platinum. If your eligibility notice shows extra savings on deductibles and copays, pick Silver, the only level that carries them. Catastrophic plans are for people under 30 or with a hardship or affordability exemption.
• Network and drug list. An EPO covers only in-network care except in an emergency, and an HMO usually works the same way. A PPO lets you go outside the network for an extra cost, and a POS plan needs a referral from your primary care doctor before you see a specialist. Enter your doctors, hospitals and prescriptions while you compare, and HealthCare.gov marks whether each plan covers them in network. Each plan also posts its list of covered drugs, a provider directory and a summary of benefits.
• The full year's cost. Add 12 months of premiums to the deductible, copays and coinsurance you expect, up to the plan's out-of-pocket maximum. For 2027 that maximum is no more than $12,000 for one person or $24,000 for a family, premiums aside. On HealthCare.gov, select "Add yearly cost" and choose low, medium or high use to get an estimated yearly total for each plan.

Already enrolled? Log back in even if you plan to stay

If you take no action by December 15, HealthCare.gov re-enrolls you in your current plan or another plan from the same insurer, or in a plan from a different insurer if yours stops offering plans. Covered California renews you into your current plan within 30 days of its renewal deadline, using the household and income information on file. The letters from your insurer and the Marketplace, both due by November 1, name the plan you were matched with. Logging back in pays off two ways:

• Your plan can change under you. In Oregon, PacificSource and Providence leave the individual market for 2027 and Moda pulls out of eight counties. Covered California loses Molina in northeast Los Angeles County and Orange County. If you were matched to a new plan, check its doctors and drugs.
• Your savings follow your old numbers. Without an update, the Marketplace estimates your 2027 credit from your last application and sources like the IRS. Report a new job, lost hours or a household change, or you can get too little help, or too much and repay it with your federal taxes.

You can still switch after automatic re-enrollment, by the January 1 cutoffs in the table. Later switches start February 1: until January 15 on HealthCare.gov and Pennie, and any time in January in Covered California. Oregon takes plan changes until January 15.

Free help to apply and choose

• Marketplace Call Center: 1-800-318-2596 (TTY 1-855-889-4325) gives free, unbiased help to apply, compare plans and enroll, daily except certain holidays, in other languages.
• Navigators and certified application counselors are trained and certified by the Marketplace and help for free; navigators must stay unbiased. Search your ZIP code at localhelp.healthcare.gov.
• Agents and brokers are licensed by the state, cost you nothing extra and can recommend a specific plan. Insurers pay them commissions, and some sell only certain companies' plans, so ask which insurers they carry.
• Covered California offers free certified enrollers statewide, and first-time applicants get a callback from one within 15 minutes through Help on Demand.

Never hand your personal information to anyone offering cash, gifts or other perks to sign you up.

Where it splits

If you miss open enrollment (January 15, or January 31 in California), you need a Special Enrollment Period, which usually lasts 60 days after losing coverage, moving to a new ZIP code or county, marrying, or having or adopting a child. A move or a marriage counts only if you, or one spouse, had qualifying health coverage for at least one day in the 60 days before it. After losing Medicaid or CHIP, you get 90 days. A loss-of-coverage enrollment needs proof within 30 days. Medicaid and CHIP take applications all year. See moving from Medicaid or CHIP to the Marketplace and COBRA vs. Marketplace after job loss.

If you will have job-based coverage or Medicare in 2027, log in or call and set your Marketplace plan to end when the new coverage starts, or the Marketplace can re-enroll you.

If the Marketplace turns you down, sets your savings too low or refuses a Special Enrollment Period, appeal within 90 days of the date on your eligibility notice. Send any requested documents first; the updated decision can settle it.

Today, and what comes next

Today: find your marketplace and its January 1 cutoff, in the table or on your state marketplace's site, then gather Social Security numbers, income records and the Employer Coverage Tool, and list your doctors and drugs for the plan preview. From November 1 (already open in Idaho), log in, update income and household, and pick a plan by that cutoff. Your eligibility notice lands under Messages, the insurer's first bill follows, and paying it starts your coverage and brings your ID card.