Key takeaways
- Open enrollment runs from November 1 to January 15 in most states.
- What states generally end open enrollment on January 15?
- What states generally do not end open enrollment on January 15?
- For some coverage programs or applicants, enrollment is available year-round.
- Outside of open enrollment, you normally need a qualifying event to enroll.
- The open enrollment windows have varied over the years.
What is the deadline to enroll in 2024 ACA-compliant health insurance coverage in the individual market?
Open enrollment for individual/family health coverage begins in nearly every state on November 1 (it has traditionally begun on October 15 in Idaho, and on November 16 in New York). In most states, open enrollment ends on January 15, but there are some exceptions, described below.
In most states, December 15 is the deadline to get a plan that takes effect January 1; enrollments completed in the latter half of December and the first half of January will generally take effect February 1 instead. But there are some exceptions to this (note that these exceptions are based on the rules that were in place for 2024 coverage):
- In New Jersey, Maryland, California, Rhode Island, New Mexico,1 and Nevada,2 coverage took effect on January 1, 2024 as long as the application was completed by December 31, 2023.
- In Massachusetts, the deadline for a January 1 effective date was December 23.
- These deadlines can change from one year to the next, so never assume that your state will allow a January 1 effective date if you enroll after December 15; always double-check, even if that option was available in previous years.
Open enrollment used to end on December 15 in most states, but the Biden-Harris administration added a one-month extension that took effect for the 2022 plan year and will continue to be used from now on (December 15 is still the deadline to get a January 1 effective date). This applies to the 32 states that use HealthCare.gov for 2024 (dropping to 31 states for 2025, as Georgia transitions to its own enrollment platform). The other 18 states and DC are free to follow that same schedule — most do — or set their own schedule.
What states generally have a January 15 open enrollment deadline?
In 43 states, the deadline to enroll in individual/family health coverage is typically January 15, although it was extended to January 16 in 2024 in many of those states due to the federal holiday. Most these states use HealthCare.gov and thus do not have the discretion to set their enrollment dates. But quite a few of the state-run exchange platforms use the same enrollment schedule:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Colorado (state-run exchange)
- Connecticut: (state-run exchange)
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky (state-run exchange)
- Louisiana
- Maine (state-run exchange)
- Maryland (state-run exchange)
- Michigan
- Minnesota (state-run exchange)
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada (state-run exchange)
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico (state-run exchange)
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania (state-run exchange)
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont (state-run exchange)
- Virginia (state-run exchange)
- Washington (state-run exchange)
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
What states do not end open enrollment on January 15?
Fully state-run exchanges (there are currently 19 of them; there will be 20 as of the 2025 plan year) can set their own enrollment deadline, as long as it’s not earlier than December 15. The majority of these state-run exchanges follow a November 1 – January 15 schedule. However, some state-run exchanges have different enrollment windows. Here are the enrollment deadlines typically used by the rest of the state-run exchanges:
- California: January 31 (extended through February 9 in 20243)
- District of Columbia: January 31
- Idaho: December 15 (Idaho is the only state where open enrollment ends in December; for future years, Idaho’s enrollment window will have to be extended under rules that CMS finalized in 2024)
- Massachusetts: January 23
- New Jersey: January 31
- New York: January 31 (extended through May 31 in 20244)
- Rhode Island: January 31
Who can enroll in ACA-compliant health plans year-round?
Year-round enrollment is available for some populations and for some types of health coverage, without a need for a specific qualifying life event. This includes:
- American Indians and Alaska Natives
- Coverage under the Basic Health Programs in New York, Minnesota, and Oregon
- Coverage under the ConnectorCare program in Massachusetts, for people who are newly eligible or who haven’t enrolled before
- Coverage under Connecticut’s Covered Connecticut program
- People who are eligible for the low-income special enrollment period (available in most states)
- Applicants who are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP can enroll year-round.
Outside of ACA’s open enrollment window, enrollment is only available with a special enrollment period
After open enrollment ends, people can normally only purchase coverage if they have a special enrollment period (SEP). Most SEPs are triggered by a specific qualifying event such as:
- Marriage (since 2017, this generally only applies if at least one spouse already had coverage before the wedding, although there are some exceptions),
- Becoming a U.S. citizen,
- Birth or adoption,
- Involuntary loss of other health coverage.
- A permanent move to an area where new health plans are available (since July 2016, this only applies in most cases if you already had coverage prior to your move).
- Here’s a complete guide to qualifying events in the individual market, and their associated special enrollment periods. Note that in most cases, special enrollment periods can be used to obtain replacement coverage, but not to go from being uninsured to insured. But some qualifying life events, such as the birth of a baby, will allow a household to obtain new coverage even if they weren’t previously insured.
Regardless of whether you purchase insurance through the exchange or off-exchange, the annual open enrollment window applies, and special enrollment periods are necessary to enroll at any other time of the year.
Open enrollment schedule has varied over time
Although open enrollment is now set at November 1 – January 15 in most states, it has varied quite a bit over the years. In the federally-run marketplaces, the following enrollment windows have been used (with some last-minute extensions, and with somewhat different schedules used by the state-run marketplaces):
- 2014 coverage: October 1, 2013 through March 31, 2014
- 2015 coverage: November 15, 2014 through February 15, 2015
- 2016 coverage: November 1, 2015 through January 31, 2016
- 2017 coverage: November 1, 2016 through January 31, 2017
- 2018 coverage: November 1, 2017 through December 15, 2017
- 2019 coverage: November 1, 2018 through December 15, 2018
- 2020 coverage: November 1, 2019 through December 15, 2019
- 2021 coverage: November 1, 2020 through December 15, 2020
- 2022 coverage: November 1, 2021 through January 15, 2022
- 2023 coverage: November 1, 2022 through January 15, 2023
- 2024 coverage: November 1, 2023 through January 16, 2024 (one-day extension due to a federal holiday)
- 2025 coverage: November 1, 2024 through January 15, 2025
Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006. She has written dozens of opinions and educational pieces about the Affordable Care Act for healthinsurance.org. Her state health insurance marketplace updates are regularly cited by media who cover health reform and by other health insurance experts.
Footnotes
- New Mexico deadline confirmed with New Mexico Office of the Superintendent of Insurance in November 2023 ⤶
- Nevada deadline confirmed via email with Nevada Health Link’s communications department in November 2023 ⤶
- Covered California Announces More Time to Enroll for Coverage in 2024. Covered California. January 31, 2024. ⤶
- Press Release: On the Tenth Anniversary of New York’s Marketplace, NY State of Health Announces the Beginning of the 2024 Annual Open Enrollment Period for Health Insurance. NY State of Health. November 2023 ⤶
