Marketplace Open Enrollment Helps Keep Families Connected to Affordable Health Coverage

On November 1, open enrollment begins for the 2025 plan year in Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance marketplaces across the country. Open enrollment offers individuals and families who don’t have access to health insurance coverage through their jobs the opportunity to shop for high-quality, affordable health plans and enroll in coverage that begins on January 1, 2025.

During the 2024 open enrollment period, a historic 21.3 million people selected plans, underscoring the need for and importance of comprehensive, quality, affordable health insurance.

Key Dates

• November 1, 2024: Open Enrollment starts — first day you can enroll in, renew, or change Marketplace plans.
• December 15, 2024: Last day to enroll in or change plans for coverage to start January 1.
• January 15, 2025: Open Enrollment ends — last day to enroll in or change Marketplace plans for the year with coverage starting February 1.

What’s New for 2025
People will see several new improvements this enrollment period to help them shop for plans:

• Health insurers continue to offer many health plans that cover a number of services before people reach a deductible. On healthcare.gov, search for plans that offer “easy pricing.” Some states use other tools to help people filter plans that meet their needs — for example, if your state marketplace has a different website, healthcare.gov will direct you to it.
• Marketplaces across the country are making it easier to find help in various languages, including sign language, and accommodations for people with disabilities.
  • On healthcare.gov, click “Find local help.”
  • In states that use the federal marketplace, such as Alabama, Arizona, Montana, and many others, you can filter further to find “language and interpretive services” and “special services.”
  • In California, people can use Covered California, the state’s official marketplace website, to search for assistance in various languages, apply online or by phone, or find a “storefront” that offers walk-in enrollment help.
• As part of a new federal rule regarding Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals’ (DACA) eligibility for marketplace coverage, immigrants who grew up in the United States can apply for financial help paying their premiums in marketplaces across the country. This is a great victory that advocates have anticipated for many years. Unfortunately, a group of state attorneys general is challenging the new rule, but for now this policy is in effect and those who are eligible should take full advantage of this premium affordability assistance. Families USA will provide updates on how advocates can help protect this essential coverage that is helping to eliminate health disparities.

Enhanced ACA Subsidies Help Improve Access
Thanks to enhancements made in the last few years under the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act, many people currently will qualify for financial help paying premiums that makes the plans even more affordable.

If Congress doesn’t act soon to preserve this affordability assistance, the cost of premiums will skyrocket in 2026. Here are examples of how increased assistance is helping people across the country afford health insurance:

• In North Carolina, nearly a million people are currently receiving tax credits to help pay their premiums. If this assistance expires, premiums will rise by 102% for marketplace enrollees, or about $660 to $1,332 annually.
• Wisconsin is a state that has not yet fully expanded Medicaid. For adults with income over the poverty line ($15,060 for an individual), premium tax credits make a huge difference, allowing them to enroll in marketplace plans with no or low premiums. If the enhancements expire, about 30,000 people would be priced out of health insurance coverage and premium payments for Wisconsinites with marketplace coverage would increase by about $1,200 per year on average.
• In California, nine out of ten people get help paying for their health coverage on Covered California : Federal tax credits make premiums affordable, and state funding lowers copays and deductibles.

Since enhanced premium tax credits went into effect, people of all races and ethnicities have been able to buy plans with much more affordable costs. Enrollment has grown, and uninsurance rates declined, especially for Latino Americans, Black Americans, and American Indians/Alaska Natives.

Carefully Selecting the Best Plans
As always, be careful of websites that might look like the official marketplace but are not. These websites do not provide all of the plan choices that the marketplace provides. Moreover, they might be selling various types of “junk” plans that lack the full array of benefits or protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

To make sure you are getting high quality, comprehensive coverage, go to www.healthcare.gov and search for your state. If your state provides its own marketplace, healthcare.gov will direct you to the proper website. Once there, you can shop for plans yourself using the comparison tools on the website, or you can locate an assister or navigator to help you find a plan and apply.

For more information on how this enhanced financial assistance is improving access check out Families USA’s fact sheet and advocacy resources.