Open Enrollment 2027 Dates by State: When to Enroll for January 1 Coverage in the 31 States We Serve

The single most common question we get in the fall is not about carriers or premiums. It is "when do I have to do this by?" Here is the answer for every state we are licensed in, with the one wrinkle this year, a court ruling that changed the federal calendar in June.

The short answer

What changed in June, and why some dates are still moving

A 2025 federal rule had shortened open enrollment to November 1 through December 15 starting with the 2027 plan year, and it required state-run exchanges to end no later than December 31. Several state exchanges announced December 31 windows to comply. In June 2026 the court in City of Columbus v. Kennedy vacated that provision, and on July 27, 2026 CMS confirmed that HealthCare.gov would run November 1 through January 15 as before. The state-run exchanges were then free to keep the shorter window or go back to their own, which is why the published dates for a handful of them changed over the summer and may change again. HealthCare.gov's dates are settled.

The 24 HealthCare.gov states we serve

Same window, same deadline, all 24. Delaware runs a state-based exchange on the HealthCare.gov platform, so it follows the federal calendar.

The seven state-run exchanges we serve

These states enroll through their own websites, not HealthCare.gov. The windows below are the ones published by the exchanges and by healthinsurance.org as of mid-September 2026. Where a state had announced a December 31 close before the court ruling, we say so, because that is the date some members will still see in older mailings.

We will update this table as the exchanges confirm their windows. If you are in one of these states, the safe rule is the same as everywhere else: enroll by December 15.

The December 15 trap

The window in most states runs past New Year's, but the effective date does not follow you. Enroll or switch by December 15 and coverage starts January 1. Enroll on December 20 and it starts February 1, and if your old plan ended December 31, that is a month with no coverage. For a self-employed household with no employer plan as a backstop, that gap is the most avoidable mistake of the season, which is why every deadline we give a client is December 15, in every state.

What to do before November 1

1. Read the renewal or discontinuation letter when it arrives in October. Several carriers are leaving markets for 2027, Cigna in eleven states among them, and the Marketplace will map you to a replacement plan by metal level and product type, not by your doctors.
2. Pin down 2027 income with your tax preparer. The premium tax credit ends at 400% of the poverty level, about $63,840 for one person and $132,000 for a family of four for 2027 coverage, and it is reconciled on your tax return.
3. Shop the whole menu, not the mapped plan, and check the network for your doctors before you look at the premium.
4. If you are healthy and above the credit line, compare a medically underwritten plan the same week. It prices on your health, can be applied for any month, and can decline or exclude conditions, so it is compared next to the Marketplace number, never instead of it.
5. Enroll by December 15 and pay the first premium when the carrier bills it.

Florida readers can start with our Florida open enrollment 2027 guide; Texas and Georgia have their own: Texas and Georgia. For every other state we serve, the states we serve page links to the coverage guide. And if you want one licensed broker to run every plan you qualify for in your state, start on our individual and family page. One call, real numbers, never sold.

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