WASHINGTON — Open enrollment for 2027 health coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces begins Sunday, with the Trump administration telling consumers that most shoppers can find a plan for $50 a month or less and independent analysts warning that the average benchmark premium is rising again.
The enrollment window runs from Nov. 1 through Jan. 15 in states that use HealthCare.gov. Consumers who sign up by Dec. 15 get coverage starting Jan. 1, and those who enroll between Dec. 16 and Jan. 15 get coverage starting Feb. 1, according to HealthCare.gov. Several states that run their own exchanges set different deadlines.
In a fact sheet released Oct. 30, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said more than 75% of HealthCare.gov shoppers will be able to find a plan with a premium of $50 or less after tax credits, and that for enrollees eligible for financial help, tax credits cover about 90% of the premium of the lowest-cost plan on average.
The administration is also promoting a sharp increase in plans that can be paired with a health savings account. CMS said consumers will have an average of 35 HSA-eligible plans to choose from, an increase of more than 1,000%, which it attributed to the Working Families Tax Cuts law. The agency said shoppers will see about 100 plans from five to six insurers on average, and that the lowest-cost catastrophic plan is about 10% cheaper than last year. The fact sheet also credited President Donald Trump’s actions on prescription drug prices. The White House was asked for comment on enrollment.
What shoppers will pay
The cost picture looks different for people who do not qualify for subsidies, or who receive smaller ones than before. An Oct. 30 analysis by KFF, the health policy research group, found that benchmark silver premiums are rising 13% on average for 2027: 11% in states that use HealthCare.gov and 16% in states that run their own exchanges. That follows a 26% average increase for 2026, for a combined increase of about 42% over two years, KFF said.
The enhanced premium tax credits that Congress enacted during the pandemic expired at the end of 2025. KFF reported that effectuated enrollment stood at 19.2 million in February 2026, down 2.6 million from a year earlier, and it cited a Congressional Budget Office projection that enrollment will fall to 13.1 million in 2027.
Insurer participation is shifting as well. KFF counted 11 insurers leaving the marketplaces and seven entering for 2027, and it reported that Cigna is leaving the exchanges in all 11 states where it sold plans. Enrollees whose insurer is leaving will need to pick a new plan or be matched to one.
Some states are filling part of the gap. KFF noted that New Mexico is using state money to replace the expired federal subsidies for its residents.
New rules this year
The 2027 season is the first full enrollment period under several rule changes. KFF said about 760,000 so-called phantom enrollees, people who were signed up for coverage without using it, had their coverage cancelled as part of the administration’s crackdown on improper enrollment, and that registration for new insurance brokers is paused until February 2027.
Other changes include new limits on tax credit eligibility for some lawfully present immigrants, the elimination of caps on how much excess advance tax credit enrollees must repay at tax time, and coordination with new Medicaid work requirements, according to KFF.
Several of the changes are being challenged in court, including cases KFF identifies as the Columbus and California lawsuits over the marketplace integrity rule.
What to do
Current enrollees can log in and compare plans rather than let coverage renew automatically, a step that matters more this year because premiums, tax credits and insurer lineups have changed. Shoppers can compare plans and estimate their tax credits at HealthCare.gov, or through their state exchange.
The Washington Inquisitor sent requests for comment to the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees CMS, KFF and AHIP, the health insurers’ trade group. Any responses will be added to this story.
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