ACA Open Enrollment for 2027 Coverage — Nov. 1, 2026 to Jan. 15, 2027 on HealthCare.gov

Open enrollment is the annual window in which anyone eligible for Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage can sign up for a plan, switch plans, or drop coverage without needing a qualifying life event. For 2027 coverage, that window on the federal HealthCare.gov platform runs from November 1, 2026 through January 15, 2027. Outside those dates, marketplace enrollment is restricted to people who qualify for a Special Enrollment Period.^[1][2]

There are effectively two deadlines inside the window, and the difference between them is a full month of coverage. Select a plan and pay your first premium by December 15, 2026 and your coverage starts January 1, 2027 — a clean handoff from the prior plan year with no gap. Wait until December 16 through January 15 and coverage instead starts February 1, 2027, leaving January uncovered unless another source of insurance fills it.^[1][2]

Paying the first premium is part of the requirement, not an afterthought. Selecting a plan on the site does not by itself activate coverage; the insurer must receive the initial payment. People who auto-renew into a plan should still review the renewal notice, because plan designs, provider networks and subsidy amounts change from year to year and the automatic option may not be the best available choice.^[1][3]

HealthCare.gov handles enrollment for 38 states plus the District of Columbia. The remaining states run their own exchanges, and while many mirror the federal calendar, several set later closing dates. Residents of those states must enroll through the state platform, and should confirm their exchange's specific deadline rather than assuming the January 15 federal date applies.^[2][3]

The 2027 enrollment season arrives after the expiration of the ACA's enhanced premium tax credits at the end of 2025, a change policy analysts have linked to substantially higher net premiums for subsidized enrollees. Analysis from KFF has noted that there is no hard cutoff preventing Congress from restoring the enhanced credits later, and that such an extension could be applied retroactively — but as of the start of the 2027 window, enrollees should shop based on the subsidy amounts actually shown to them rather than on the possibility of a legislative change.^[4]