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

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

The annual ACA open enrollment window for 2026 coverage ended in early 2026. The open enrollment period followed the same schedule that had been used for the last few years, with most states running open enrollment from November 1 through January 15.

Here’s everything we know right now about ACA open enrollment deadlines going forward:

Is the ACA open enrollment schedule changing?

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 2026.¹ 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 2026,² which prevents the shorter open enrollment period from taking effect.

But in July 2026, HHS appealed that ruling,³ so the issue was still up in the air as of late July 2026.⁴

What it means: It’s possible the open enrollment schedule won’t be shortened, and will instead continue to have a January 15 deadline in most states. But that won't be clear until there's a ruling on the appeal that HHS has filed. We will update this page as more information becomes available, so check back in the coming weeks.

We have been tracking open enrollment schedule announcements from state-run Marketplaces, and have detailed them below. We will continue to update this list if there are any developments related to the June 2026 court ruling or the July 2026 HHS appeal.

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 15,⁵ and in Connecticut and Massachusetts, it will begin on October 23.⁶)

The dates for the end of open enrollment will depend on whether HHS is successful in the appeal it filed in July 2026, and whether a state runs its own Marketplace platform or uses HealthCare.gov.

Here are the enrollment deadlines that have been announced by state-run Marketplaces as of late July 2026, although as noted above, these could change depending on the outcome of the appeal. States that have newly published their deadlines or extended their previously announced enrollment deadlines following the June 2026 court ruling are in bold font:

• California: January 31⁷
• Colorado: January 15⁸
• Connecticut: December 23⁹
• District of Columbia: January 31¹⁰
• Georgia: January 15¹¹
• Idaho: December 15⁵
• Illinois: January 15¹²
• Kentucky: January 15¹³
• Maine: January 15¹⁴
• Maryland: December 31¹⁵
• Massachusetts: December 23¹⁶
• Minnesota: December 31¹⁷
• Nevada: December 31¹⁸
• New Jersey: January 31¹⁹
• New Mexico: January 15²⁰
• New York: January 31²¹
• Oregon: December 31²²
• Pennsylvania: January 15²³
• Rhode Island: December 31²⁴
• Vermont: December 15²⁵
• Virginia: December 31²⁶
• Washington: January 15²⁷

We’ll continue to update this page as we get closer to open enrollment, the lawsuit is resolved, 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.²⁸