Open Enrollment in New York: 2027 Dates, Deadlines and What Changed

The three calendars, kept straight

Most confusion in this season comes from treating “open enrollment” as one event. It is three.

The third row is the one that gets people. Being told you “missed open enrollment” is a statement about marketplace plans. If your income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, the Essential Plan is open to you in March, in July, on a Tuesday in August.

Key dates for 2027 coverage

• October 15, 2026. Medicare annual enrollment opens.
• November 1, 2026. Marketplace open enrollment opens at NY State of Health.
• December 7, 2026. Medicare annual enrollment closes.
• December 15, 2026. Last day to pick a marketplace plan for coverage starting January 1, 2027.
• January 1, 2027. New plan year begins. New prices, new networks, new drug lists.
• January 15, 2027. The federal marketplace closes in most other states. Not New York.
• January 31, 2027. New York’s marketplace open enrollment closes. Enrolling in January means coverage starts February 1 at the earliest.

What changed going into this season

Four things moved since last autumn, and each one changes what a renewal costs.

Premiums. On September 4, 2026 the state Department of Financial Services approved 2027 individual-market rates averaging a 6.0% increase, down from the 20.6% insurers requested, on about 224,000 people in individual plans. Small-group rates were cut from a requested 23.7% to 8.0%. Your own change depends on your carrier and plan, so the number that matters is the one in your renewal notice, not the average.

Tax credits. The enhanced premium tax credits that lowered marketplace premiums from 2021 through 2025 expired on December 31, 2025, and Congress had not restored them as of this writing. Credits still exist; they are simply smaller than they were, and for many households they now end at 400% of the poverty level. How the credit is calculated and what changed.

The Essential Plan. Its upper income tier, 200% to 250% of the poverty level, ended on July 1, 2026 when the federal funding for it stopped. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers were moved to marketplace plans with tax credits. If you were among them, this is your first open enrollment as a marketplace enrollee, and it is worth treating as a real decision rather than a renewal. What to check.

Immigration status. Starting January 1, 2027, federal law limits premium tax credits to lawful permanent residents, certain Cuban and Haitian entrants, and citizens of the Compact of Free Association nations. Refugees, people granted asylum, people with Temporary Protected Status and several other lawfully present groups lose eligibility for the credit on that date. What that means and what stays open.

If you already have a marketplace plan

Auto-renewal is the default, and it is not the same as “nothing changed.” Three things move between plan years, and any of them can cost you real money:

Your premium. The plan’s price and the size of your tax credit both change annually. A plan that cost $40 a month can become $120 without anyone doing anything wrong, and this year the credit side moved as much as the price side.

Your network. Practices join and leave. The doctor who was in network in 2026 may not be in 2027, and nobody sends you a letter you will notice.

The formulary. Drugs move tiers. A medication that cost $10 can move to a tier that costs $60.

Twenty minutes in November is the cheapest insurance against all three. The renewal checklist is built to be printed and worked through with the renewal notice in hand, and the carrier comparison method covers the network question.

If you’re uninsured right now

Don’t wait for November. Apply today at NY State of Health: the same application screens you for everything at once, and if you land in Medicaid, the Essential Plan or Child Health Plus, the season is irrelevant to you.

If you land above those thresholds, you will be told so, and then November is your window. One thing to do in the meantime: check the 2026 income limits with your projected income for next year, not this year’s tax return, because the credit is built on what you expect to earn in 2027.

Where to get help without being sold anything

Certified navigators are free, earn no commission and work in dozens of languages across the five boroughs. The state line, 1-855-355-5777, has interpreters. Brokers are licensed and can be useful for complicated households, and they are paid by the plans they sell. Neither is disqualifying; not knowing which one you are talking to is. The sentence: “Are you a certified navigator or a broker, and do you get a commission if I enroll through you?”

If someone calls you first about health insurance, that is a sales contact, not the marketplace.