Florida Open Enrollment 2027: Dates, the December 15 Trap, and What to Do If Your Renewal Jumped

Florida's renewal letters land in October, and every year the same thing happens: people read the new premium, feel sick, and either auto-renew because it is easier or panic-buy the first thing an ad shows them. Neither is necessary. Here is the calendar, what the letter actually means, and what to do in what order.

The dates, and the court fight behind them

The December 15 trap

The window runs to January 15, but coverage effective dates do not wait for it. Enroll or switch by December 15 and your new plan starts January 1. Enroll between December 16 and January 15 and it starts February 1. If you let a plan lapse and enroll on January 10, you spend January with no coverage at all. For a self-employed household with no other backstop, that gap is the single most avoidable mistake of the season, which is why every deadline we give a client is December 15.

Reading the renewal letter

• The new premium is the full 2027 rate for your current plan before any credit. Florida carriers proposed 2027 increases averaging about 15.3% unweighted, ranging from under 4% to over 39%, on top of the 31.5% average increase for 2026.
• The credit estimate is based on the income you reported last year. If your income changed, the real credit will too, and the letter will not know it.
• "Your plan will be renewed automatically" means you will be re-enrolled in the same plan, or mapped to a similar plan if yours is discontinued, unless you act. It does not mean the plan is still your best option.
• A discontinuation notice means your carrier or plan is leaving. Cigna members will see this for 2027. Sunshine State members are being transitioned to Ambetter.

What changed in Florida for 2027

Three things worth knowing before you shop. Cigna left the ACA Marketplace in every state, so its Florida members need to pick a new carrier rather than accept the mapped plan blindly. Sunshine State Health Plan products end with 2026 and members move to Ambetter, which is the same parent company. Molina had not filed for 2027 as of early August and has said it is shrinking its footprint. Everyone else, including Florida Blue, Ambetter, Oscar, UnitedHealthcare, and the regional plans, continues. Our 2027 Florida carrier guide has the full list.

A week-by-week plan

1. October: when the letter arrives, pin down your realistic 2027 household income with your tax preparer. Everything else depends on which side of the credit line you land on (about $63,840 for one person and $132,000 for a family of four).
2. November 1 to 15: update your Marketplace application with the new income and household, then pull the full county menu, not just the mapped plan. If you are healthy and above the line, get an underwritten quote the same week so both numbers sit side by side.
3. By December 1: decide. Confirm your doctors and hospital are in the new plan's network, and read the deductible and out-of-pocket maximum, not just the premium.
4. By December 15: enroll or switch, and confirm the January 1 effective date on the confirmation screen. Pay the first premium when the carrier bills it, because a plan is not active until it is paid.
5. December 16 to January 15: the window is still open for a February 1 start. Use it only if you already have coverage through January.

If you miss the window

After January 15 the Marketplace closes unless you have a qualifying life event: losing other coverage, a move, a marriage, a birth, and a handful of others, each opening a 60-day special enrollment period. Outside of that, the non-Marketplace lanes stay open year-round. A medically underwritten plan can be applied for any month by a healthy household, and a short-term plan can bridge to the next window. Neither accepts a credit, and neither is guaranteed issue, so the better move is to not miss December 15 in the first place.

If you want one licensed Florida broker to read your renewal letter with you, pull the county menu, and run the underwritten quote at the same time, start on our Florida self-employed page. One call, real numbers, never sold.

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