When Is Open Enrollment for Health Insurance?
In most states, open enrollment starts on Nov. 1, 2025, and ends on Jan. 15, 2026, for Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans.
Find Cheap Health Insurance Quotes in Your Area
When is health insurance open enrollment for 2025 to 2026?
Open enrollment for health insurance begins Nov. 1 and ends on Jan. 15.
During this period, you can get coverage from HealthCare.gov or your state health exchange.
Keep in mind, some states have different open enrollment dates. In Massachusetts, California, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington D.C., open enrollment starts on Nov. 1 but ends on a later date.
In Idaho, open enrollment lasts from Oct. 15 to Dec. 15. Idaho is the only state to start before Nov. 1.
Health insurance open enrollment dates by state
State | Open enrollment period | Where you shop |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Nov. 1, 2025-Jan. 15, 2026 | HealthCare.gov |
| Alaska | Nov. 1, 2025-Jan. 15, 2026 | HealthCare.gov |
| Arizona | Nov. 1, 2025-Jan. 15, 2026 | HealthCare.gov |
| Arkansas | Nov. 1, 2025-Jan. 15, 2026 | HealthCare.gov |
| California | Nov. 1, 2025-Jan. 31, 2026 (renewals begin Oct. 1) | Covered California |
Dates came from HealthCare.gov and state health marketplaces.
Find Cheap Health Insurance Quotes in Your Area
If you have insurance through your job, called group health insurance, your employer decides when you can enroll or make changes to your policy.
How to get health insurance outside open enrollment
You can buy marketplace health insurance outside open enrollment only if you're eligible for what's called a special enrollment period.
Moving, changes in household size or health coverage loss, called qualifying life events, can cause a special enrollment period to start.
Common qualifying life events for a special enrollment period
- You lose coverage due to a death in the family
- You or a spouse gives birth to or adopts a child
- You lose your existing health coverage
- Your spouse changes jobs or retires
- Your income changes significantly
- You marry, divorce or separate
- You move to a different area
- You become a U.S. citizen
- You get released from jail
If you get insurance during a special enrollment period, your health insurance coverage usually starts the first day of the month after you choose a plan.
When you sign up determines your coverage start date
You'll usually need to sign up for medical insurance by Dec. 15 to make sure your plan starts by the new year. So if your current policy ends on Dec. 31, you'll need to sign up for a plan by Dec. 15 to avoid a coverage gap.
When you enroll | When your coverage begins |
|---|---|
| On or before Dec. 15, 2025 | Jan. 1, 2026 |
| Between Dec. 16, 2025, and Jan. 15, 2026 | Feb. 1, 2026 |
Other open enrollment schedules
The open enrollment dates above are only for private health insurance plans bought through the ACA marketplace. Other types of health insurance have different enrollment schedules.
-
Medicare: Open enrollment runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7 every year.
- Medicare Advantage: Open enrollment runs from Jan. 1 to March 31.
- Medicaid: Medicaid doesn't have an open enrollment window. You can enroll in Medicaid at any time during the year, so long as you meet the eligibility requirements.
- Employer health insurance: Your employer sets open enrollment dates if you have health insurance through your job.
2025 health insurance changes
Several important changes have happened in the health insurance marketplace for the open enrollment period.
- Special enrollment for losing Medicaid and CHIP: If you lose coverage through Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), you can get marketplace coverage outside of open enrollment. HealthCare.gov and state health exchanges let you get coverage up to 60 days before or up to 90 days after losing Medicaid or CHIP coverage.
- Avoiding coverage gaps: If you know you'll lose your health insurance within the next 60 days, you can start your plan sooner to avoid a gap when you don't have insurance.
Some changes have to do with reenrolling in the same health plan.
If you currently have a Bronze-level plan, you might get reenrolled in a Silver plan if you're eligible for extra discounts, called cost-sharing reductions.
That's because you can only get these discounts with a Silver plan. The Silver plan can't cost more than your Bronze plan. Also, the Silver plan needs to have the same network of doctors.
In other words, you might automatically get better coverage for the same or a lower price.
If you no longer qualify for cost-sharing reductions, you can enroll in a cheaper Bronze, Silver or Gold plan.
If your current health plan is no longer available, you can choose a different policy or let your insurance company find a new plan with a similar doctor network.
You can get free help enrolling in marketplace coverage.
Trained professionals, called Navigators and Assisters, are available to answer your questions about health insurance and help you sign up for coverage. To get help, enter your city and state or ZIP code on HealthCare.gov. If you live in a state with its own marketplace, you'll get sent to your state-specific website.
It's important to check the "assisters" filter. Otherwise, local health insurance brokers and agents will also show up in your search results.
Is health insurance required by law?
In most states, you don't need to have health insurance.
Until 2018, you had to pay a special tax if you didn't have qualifying health insurance, called the individual mandate. That rule no longer applies at the national level. But several states still penalize those without coverage.
California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C., require residents to have health insurance. You may have to pay a penalty if you live in one of those states and don't have qualifying health insurance.
It's still important to have health insurance even if it isn't legally required. Without health insurance, you could wipe out a savings account or go into medical debt if you have a health crisis.
Putting off helpful preventive care can lead to worse health issues down the road. Remember, all ACA or "Obamacare" plans cover preventive care even if you haven't met your deductible.
Open enrollment changes in 2026
Open enrollment will likely be shorter in 2026.
Unless something changes within the next year, most people will have to buy a marketplace plan by Dec. 15, 2026, or they won't be able to get one unless they're eligible for a special enrollment period. States that use their own marketplace can extend their open enrollment to Dec. 31. Even with the extra time, that's still shorter than the current open enrollment period.
The shorter window is part of a bundle of potential changes CMS says will "reduce consumer confusion, align more closely with open enrollment dates for many employer-based health plans, encourage continuous coverage" and lower the risk that only people who are sick or need medical care buy plans.
How many people signed up in the last month of open enrollment?
State | # of people | % of total enrollment |
|---|---|---|
| National | 1,010,536 | 4.7% |
| Alabama | 25,052 | 6.5% |
| Alaska | 891 | 3.2% |
| Arizona | 22,552 | 6.5% |
| Arkansas | 11,590 | 7.4% |
Data indicates the number people in each state that signed up for coverage between Dec. 17, 2023, and Jan. 16, 2024.
During the open enrollment period for 2024 plans, which ran from Nov. 1, 2023, to Jan. 15, 2024, 1,010,536 people signed up for a plan in the last month of open enrollment. That's about 4.7% of the total enrollment that year.
People in Colorado, New Mexico and West Virginia were the most likely to use the last month of open enrollment for 2024 plans. In those states, more than 9% of people who got an Affordable Care Act (ACA) plan did it between Dec. 17 and Jan. 16.
In Texas, nearly 200,000 people got coverage between Dec. 17, 2023, and Jan. 16, 2024. In Florida, 177,356 people signed up in the last month of open enrollment.
What to do now to prepare for 2026 open enrollment
If you expect to get coverage from HealthCare.gov or a state marketplace in 2026, you might want to mark your calendars now. You may need to shop for and buy a new health plan between Nov. 1 and Dec. 15 this year, instead of having until Jan. 15 to buy coverage. If you live in a state that has its own marketplace site, you might have until Dec. 31 to get coverage. But these dates could still change, so keep an eye on the news leading up to open enrollment.
If you miss the window, you should check to see if you can get health insurance at other times of the year. There are certain life events, like having a baby or moving, that let you get health insurance outside of open enrollment. This is called a "special enrollment period."
Frequently asked questions
When is open enrollment for health insurance in 2025?
Open enrollment for health insurance runs from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15, in most states. If you have health insurance through your job, check with your employer to find your open enrollment dates.
Can health insurance be bought at any time?
You can get coverage after open enrollment if you qualify for a special enrollment period by having a baby, getting married, moving or losing your current health insurance.
You can also buy a short-term health plan at any time during the year. Keep in mind, these plans typically have worse coverage than health insurance available on your state marketplace.
What is open enrollment for health insurance?
Open enrollment is the period each year when you can buy or change health insurance plans. The reason open enrollment exists is to prevent people from waiting until they get sick to buy health insurance.
Sources and methodology
Open enrollment dates and regulations are based on information from HealthCare.gov and state marketplace sites. Information about 2026 changes to Affordable Care Act plans comes from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Data about the potential impact of the shortened open enrollment window comes from a CMS dataset for 2025 open enrollment.
Talon Abernathy
Senior Writer
Talon Abernathy is a ValuePenguin Senior Writer who specializes in health insurance, Medicare and Medicaid. He's also contributed to other insurance verticals including home, renters, auto, motorcycle and flood insurance.
Talon came to ValuePenguin in 2023. Since his arrival, he's helped to expand the site's health insurance-related content offerings. He enjoys helping readers understand the ins and outs of America's all too complicated health insurance landscape.
Before coming to ValuePenguin, Talon worked as a freelance writer. His prior work has touched on a broad range of personal finance-related topics including credit-building strategies, small business incorporation tactics and creative ways to save for retirement.
Insurance tip
In many parts of the country, you can qualify for a free Silver health insurance plan if you meet certain income requirements. Government subsidies in the form of premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions may mean you'll pay nothing for coverage.
Expertise
- Health insurance
- Medicare and Medicaid
- Flood insurance
- Homeowners insurance
- Renters insurance
- Auto and motorcycle insurance
Referenced by
- The Miami Herald
- Money.com
- MSN
- Nasdaq
- The Sacramento Bee
- Yahoo! Finance
Education
- BA, University of Washington
- Certificate in Copyediting, UC San Diego
Editorial note: The content of this article is based on the author's opinions and recommendations alone. It has not been previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed by any of our network partners.
