What are the deadlines for the ACA’s open enrollment period?

When is the Affordable Care Act’s annual open enrollment period?

In most states, open enrollment for 2027 individual market health coverage will run from November 1, 2026 through January 15, 2027.¹ The deadline to pick a plan with a January 1 effective date will be December 15 in most states.

Is the ACA open enrollment schedule changing?

The open enrollment period for 2027 coverage will follow the same schedule that was used in recent years, running from November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027 in most states.¹ (State-run Marketplaces can have different schedules, which are noted below.)

In 2025, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) finalized a rule change implementing a shorter ACA open enrollment period starting in the fall of 2026.² The rule clarified that open enrollment would end on December 15 in states that use HealthCare.gov, and that it could not extend past December 31 in states that run their own Marketplaces. The rule also required that all ACA plans selected during open enrollment would take effect on January 1, as there would no longer be an option for a February 1 start date unless an applicant was eligible for a special enrollment period.

However, the rule change requiring a shorter open enrollment period was vacated by a judge in June 2026,³ preventing the shorter open enrollment period from taking effect.

In July 2026, HHS appealed that ruling,⁴ and oral arguments for the appeal are scheduled for late October 2026.⁵

But in early August, HHS published a statement regarding a separate lawsuit (brought by the same plaintiffs, regarding rule changes HHS had planned to implement for 2027). It included a clarification that open enrollment in states using HealthCare.gov will run from November 1, 2026 until January 15, 2027.¹

What it means: For 2027 coverage, open enrollment will continue through January 15, 2027 in most states, although the deadline to select a plan with a January 1 effective date will be December 15, 2026. It's still possible that the schedule could change starting with the open enrollment period in the fall of 2027, depending on the outcome of the appeal.

We have been tracking open enrollment schedule announcements from state-run Marketplaces, and have detailed them below. We will continue to update this list as we get closer to open enrollment.

In all states except Idaho, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, open enrollment for 2027 coverage will begin on November 1, 2026. (In Idaho, it will begin on October 15,⁶ and in Connecticut and Massachusetts, it will begin on October 23.⁷)

Here are the enrollment deadlines that have been announced by state-run Marketplaces as of August 2026:

• California: January 31⁸
• Colorado: January 15⁹
• Connecticut: December 23¹⁰
• District of Columbia: January 31¹¹
• Georgia: January 15¹²
• Idaho: December 15¹³
• Illinois: January 15¹⁴
• Kentucky: January 15¹⁵
• Maine: January 15¹⁶
• Maryland: January 15¹⁷
• Massachusetts: December 23 or January 23 (unclear as of August 2026)¹⁸
• Minnesota: January 15¹⁹
• Nevada: January 15²⁰
• New Jersey: January 31²¹
• New Mexico: January 15²²
• New York: January 31²³
• Oregon: January 15²⁴
• Pennsylvania: January 15²⁵
• Rhode Island: December 31²⁶
• Vermont: January 15²⁷
• Virginia: January 29²⁸
• Washington: January 15²⁹

We’ll continue to update this page as we get closer to open enrollment and state-run exchanges provide clarification on the deadlines that they’ll be using for 2027 coverage.

What was the deadline to enroll in 2026 ACA-compliant health insurance coverage in the individual market?

In most states, open enrollment for individual/family health coverage for 2026 ended on January 15, 2026, although it ended in December 2025 in Idaho, and there are several states where it continued until January 31, 2026. Washington, D.C. had the latest enrollment deadline of February 4, which was a last-minute extension.³⁰