What Changed for 2027 Open Enrollment

Last fall’s open enrollment was the first in five years where the pandemic-era subsidy boost did not apply to the coverage people were buying, and the fallout is still working through the system. This year adds a court fight over the calendar, a new tax rule that catches people who guess their income wrong, a narrower list of who qualifies for help, and a wave of insurer exits. None of it is a reason to skip enrolling. All of it is a reason to enroll on purpose instead of letting last year’s plan roll over.

The short version

For 2027 coverage on HealthCare.gov, which is what Texas uses, open enrollment starts Sunday, November 1, 2026 and ends Friday, January 15, 2027. Enroll by December 15 and your coverage starts January 1. Enroll December 16 through January 15 and it starts February 1. The enhanced premium tax credits that ran from 2021 through 2025 are not coming back for 2027 unless Congress acts, so the original income limits apply. Insurers have asked for a median premium increase of about 15 percent, and for the first time, if you underestimate your income, you repay every dollar of excess subsidy at tax time. Several carriers are leaving the marketplace, so check your renewal notice before you assume your plan still exists.

The dates: settled for this season, still in court for next

The calendar was the biggest question mark this summer. A 2025 federal rule tried to end open enrollment on December 15 starting with 2027 coverage. In June 2026, a federal court in Maryland vacated that provision in City of Columbus v. Kennedy, and the government appealed to the Fourth Circuit in July. Then in early August, CMS put the question to rest for this season: open enrollment in HealthCare.gov states runs November 1, 2026 through January 15, 2027 no matter how the appeal turns out. Oral arguments are scheduled for late October, and a reversal would affect fall 2027 enrollment at the earliest.

State-run marketplaces set their own windows. Idaho closes December 15, Rhode Island December 31, Massachusetts January 23, Virginia January 29, and California, New York, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia run through January 31. Connecticut and Massachusetts open early, on October 23. If you live in one of those states, use the state’s date, not the federal one. Our open enrollment guide carries the full state table and gets updated when anything moves.

One more date people ask about: window shopping, the stretch before November 1 when you can preview 2027 plans and prices without an account. HealthCare.gov has historically opened it in late October, and as of mid-September CMS had not announced this year’s date. Oregon, which is moving off HealthCare.gov to its own platform for 2027, opens preview shopping October 15.

The subsidies: the enhanced credits are gone, and the cliff is back

From 2021 through 2025, a temporary law made premium tax credits larger and removed the income cap, so households above four times the federal poverty level could still get help. That expired January 1, 2026. The House passed a three-year extension in January 2026, the Senate has not acted on it, and as of September 2026 nothing has been signed. Plan on the original rules for 2027.

Under the original rules, the credit is calculated so that a benchmark silver plan costs you a set percentage of your income, rising to roughly 10 percent of income as you approach four times the poverty level. Above that line there is no credit at all, which is the cliff: one extra dollar of income can mean paying the full premium. Most enrollees still qualify for some help. Nearly nine in ten marketplace enrollees received a subsidy at the start of 2026, and because the credit is pegged to the benchmark premium, it grows when premiums do. The people who feel the full increase are the ones above the cliff and the ones who buy off the marketplace.

If your income sits anywhere near the line, this is the year to talk it through before you enroll. Timing a retirement account contribution, an HSA deposit, or a self-employment expense can matter more than which plan you pick. Our self-employed health insurance guide covers the income levers in more detail.

The premiums: another double-digit year

Insurers filed for a median increase of about 15 percent for 2027, according to KFF’s review of 276 insurers in every state. That is a little lower than the 20 percent they ended up with for 2026, but still the second-largest request since 2018. The reasons they cite are the usual ones plus one new one: medical costs and labor, and a sicker risk pool after the subsidy expiration pushed healthier people out. In Texas, nine insurers asked for a weighted average of about 13 percent. As of early September those Texas rates were still proposed, not final; the state posts final rates in the fall, and we will update this line when they land.

What the percentage means for you depends entirely on the subsidy. If you get a credit, most of the increase is absorbed by the credit, though your share can still shift depending on how your plan’s price moves relative to the benchmark. If you do not get a credit, the sticker increase is your increase. Either way, shop instead of renewing: the plan that was cheapest last year is often not the cheapest this year.

The repayment caps are gone

This is the change most people have not heard about. When you take the premium tax credit in advance, you settle up on your tax return based on the income you actually earned. If you earned more than you estimated, you owe some of the credit back. Through tax year 2025 that repayment was capped for households under four times the poverty level, so a bad estimate cost a few hundred to a few thousand dollars at most, depending on income and filing status. The 2025 reconciliation law removed the caps starting with tax year 2026, which means the return you file in spring 2027 for your 2026 coverage, and every year after, including 2027 coverage.

The practical rule: estimate income carefully, and report changes to the marketplace during the year instead of waiting for tax time. A raise, a good quarter of 1099 work, a spouse going back to work, or a bonus all count. Updating mid-year adjusts the credit going forward and shrinks the bill at the end.

Who qualifies changed for some households

Starting January 1, 2027, premium tax credits are limited to lawful permanent residents, certain Cuban and Haitian entrants, and people from the Compact of Free Association nations. Refugees, asylees, people with Temporary Protected Status, and people on work or student visas can still buy a marketplace plan but no longer qualify for the credit. DACA recipients have been excluded from marketplace enrollment altogether since August 2025, and that has not changed. Lawfully present immigrants under the poverty line who are not eligible for Medicaid lost credit eligibility in 2026.

Two smaller eligibility changes carry into 2027. The monthly special enrollment period for people under 150 percent of the poverty level was repealed, so enrolling outside the window now requires a qualifying life event for everyone. And if you enroll through a special enrollment period that is based only on income, you cannot get the credit for that coverage. Neither affects anyone enrolling during the regular window.

If you have an offer of coverage at work, the affordability test decides whether you can get a marketplace subsidy instead. For 2027 plan years, employer coverage counts as affordable if the employee-only premium is at or below 10.22 percent of household income. If your employer’s plan passes that test, the marketplace credit is off the table for you, even if the family plan at work is expensive.

The plans: higher caps, some options blocked in court

The maximum you can be asked to pay out of pocket for in-network care in 2027 is $12,000 for an individual and $24,000 for a family, up from $10,600 and $21,200 in 2026. That is a ceiling, not a typical bill, but it is the number a bad year can reach, and it is why people pair a high-deductible plan with a hospital indemnity policy that pays cash toward the deductible.

Two changes that were supposed to arrive for 2027 are on hold. A federal court stayed the higher out-of-pocket limits planned for some bronze plans and the expansion of catastrophic plans to everyone in July 2026, so catastrophic plans remain limited to people under 30 or those with a hardship or affordability exemption. The same order paused the elimination of standardized plans, so the standardized options you may have seen in past years should still be there. The government can appeal that order, and we will update this section if the rules change mid-season.

One thing that did change, quietly: bronze and catastrophic marketplace plans now count as high-deductible plans for health savings account purposes, so you can contribute to an HSA alongside any of them. The 2027 HSA limits are $4,500 for self-only coverage and $9,000 for family coverage, and contributions reduce the income the marketplace uses to figure your credit.

Insurers are leaving, and auto-renewal will not save you

Nine carriers have announced they are exiting the marketplace for 2027, including Cigna, which is leaving all eleven states where it sold individual plans. If your insurer is one of them, you will get a notice, and HealthCare.gov may enroll you in a similar plan from a different company if you do nothing. Do not accept the match blindly. A different company means a different network, a different drug list, and a different price, and the auto-assigned plan is rarely the best fit.

Automatic re-enrollment still exists for 2027 if your plan continues. It is scheduled to end for 2028 under the same reconciliation law, at which point everyone will need to actively confirm eligibility each year. One related change already in effect: if you are eligible for cost-sharing reductions but enrolled in a bronze plan, the marketplace no longer moves you into a silver plan automatically. You have to make that switch yourself, and for most people who qualify, the silver plan with reductions is the better deal.

What did not change

What to do before November 1

• Estimate 2027 income carefully. With the repayment caps gone, a low estimate is a loan you pay back in full. Land near the four-times-poverty line and it can decide whether you get a credit at all.
• Read your renewal notice. Find out whether your insurer is staying, what your current plan will cost, and whether the marketplace plans to auto-assign you somewhere new.
• Check the employer test if you have an offer at work. Compare the employee-only premium to 10.22 percent of household income before you count on a marketplace credit.
• Shop during window shopping. Preview plans and prices in late October, then enroll on November 1 so the December 15 deadline is never in play.
• Plan for the deductible, not just the premium. With the cap at $12,000, look at what you would owe in a bad month and decide whether a cash-benefit supplement belongs alongside the plan.

Frequently asked questions