Signing up & deadlines
When you can enroll, the dates that matter, and what changed for 2027. 4 guides, with sources and the date we checked them.
You can’t buy a Marketplace plan whenever you like. Most people sign up during open enrollment, which for 2027 coverage runs from November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027 on HealthCare.gov. The date that matters most is December 15: choose a plan by then and it starts January 1. Choose one between December 16 and January 15 and it starts February 1, which can leave you without coverage for January.
Illinois runs its own marketplace, Get Covered Illinois, and other states with their own exchanges publish their own dates. Our open enrollment guide lists them, along with the special enrollment windows that open outside those months.
Losing job-based coverage, moving, getting married or having a baby usually opens a 60-day window. Losing Medicaid or CHIP can open a longer one, up to 90 days in HealthCare.gov states and in Illinois. Leaving a job also brings the choice between COBRA and a Marketplace plan, so compare the two prices before you decide.
Prices, insurers and rules change every year. Before you renew, read what changed for 2027, and if your insurer is leaving or your renewal price jumped, act before December 15.
What is Obamacare? Who qualifies and how to sign upThe plain answer, who can buy a plan, and how to sign up.Read the guide Open enrollment 2027: dates and deadlinesNovember 1 to January 15 on HealthCare.gov, December 15 for January 1 coverage, and the special enrollment rules.Read the guide 
What changed for 2027The rule changes in plain English, and who they hit.Read the guide 
COBRAKeeping a job’s plan after you leave, and what it costs.Read the guide Other topics
Costs & tax credits
Medicaid
Your situation
Extra coverageGet my free quote
- 1Answer a few questions
Your situation first. Contact details come last. - 2A licensed advisor calls you
Within 24 hours. - 3We go through every option
With what to keep in mind on each one. It costs you nothing.
We never sell your information.