Open Enrollment Is Coming. Here’s How to Be Ready.

I’m Christopher Horne, a licensed health insurance broker serving Florida, Texas, Arizona, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Virginia. “When is Open Enrollment?” is one of the most-asked questions on my Ask Your Phone by voice page. Short answer: Open Enrollment for 2027 Marketplace coverage runs November 1, 2026 through January 15, 2027 — and the date that matters most is below.

The Three Dates That Run Your Year

• November 1, 2026 — Open Enrollment opens. New plans, new prices, and your one annual chance to enroll or switch Marketplace coverage for 2027.
• December 15, 2026 — the Jan 1 cutoff. Enroll or make changes by December 15 and your coverage starts January 1, 2027. This is the deadline I plan everyone’s calls around.
• January 15, 2027 — Open Enrollment closes. Enrollments after December 15 generally start February 1. Miss January 15 entirely, and outside of a qualifying life event, you’re waiting a full year.

The full deadline breakdown lives on my Open Enrollment 2027 page. This page is the get-ready version.

What to Gather Before You Enroll

• Household basics: names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers for everyone you’re covering.
• Your best income estimate for 2027 — jobs, self-employment, everything. This drives your financial help, and getting it honest now prevents a tax-time surprise later.
• Your doctors and prescriptions: names of the providers you want to keep and the medications you take. I check every one against the plan’s network and drug list before you enroll — not after.
• Your current coverage details, if you have a plan now: carrier, plan name, and how it actually worked for you this year.
• Your HealthCare.gov login, if you’ve enrolled before. If you’re one of my clients, I have us set up already.

New This Year: The Authorization Step (Don’t Skip It)

The rules around agent-assisted enrollment have gotten stricter to protect consumers — which I support. For 2027, if you want me as your agent of record, there’s an authorization step: you give the okay, through the official process, for me to help with your enrollment and servicing. It keeps your coverage, your information, and who’s allowed to act on your behalf clean and documented.

For my existing clients, I’m staging those authorization requests in batches starting October 12 so nothing is rushed at the deadline. If you get one from me, that’s what it is — your official “yes, he’s my agent.” If you’re new here, we’ll handle it together on our first call. Either way: don’t let anyone enroll you without this step. If an “agent” won’t walk you through it, that’s your sign to walk away. More on that: Your Agent Should Answer and Enrolled Without Knowing?

Three Ways to Get It Done

• Book a free call with me and we do it together, start to finish. Grab a time here.
• Self-enroll through my link at your own pace — I’m still your agent of record and I review every signup the same day. How self-enroll works.
• Just changing plans as an existing client? Text me first. We’ll handle your authorization, then review whether switching actually helps before anything changes.

The Mistake I Talk People Out of Every Year

Waiting until mid-December to look at this. Plans change every year — networks shrink, drug lists move, and the plan that treated you fine in 2026 may not be the right fit for 2027. The people who call in November get choices. The people who call on December 15 get whatever’s left of my calendar. Be a November person.

The Help Center — More Guides