This is the best OEP ever for the ACA for several reasons:
The expanded/enhanced premium subsidies first introduced in 2021 via the American Rescue Plan, which make premiums more affordable for those who already qualified while expanding eligibility to millions who weren't previously eligible, are continuing through the end of 2025 via the Inflation Reduction Act;
A dozen states are either launching, continuing or expanding their own state-based subsidy programs to make ACA plans even more affordable for their enrollees;
100,000 or more DACA recipients are finally eligible to enroll in ACA exchange plans & receive financial assistance!
9/29/25: Welcome Paul Krugman subscribers! I greatly appreciate the shoutout by him but should add the following clarification:
Regarding the chart below which he reposted comparing the original ACA subsidy scale to the current version: You probably think that if the enhanced subsidies expire it will revert back to the original version, which would be bad enough. In fact, however, the Trump Regime has also made THAT version even worse, like so:
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesotans have until January 15, 2026, to sign up for 2026 health insurance through MNsure. While the first enrollment deadline has passed, consumers can still go to the MNsure website to find a plan and sign up for coverage that starts February 1. The final deadline to enroll is 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, January 15.
Financial help for Minnesota health care plans is still available only through MNsure. MNsure-certified brokers and navigators provide free expert help and enrollment advice—from trusted professionals who won’t try to upsell consumers.
“MNsure offers a variety of plans that meet Minnesotans’ needs and budgets,” said MNsure CEO Libby Caulum. “As the official health insurance marketplace, MNsure is the best place to shop for a plan you can trust, without fear of scams or false promises.”
BOSTON—The Massachusetts Health Connector’s New Year deadline is looming, with residents without health coverage having until Dec. 23 to enroll in affordable, comprehensive health insurance that starts Jan. 1, 2026.
Most people who apply for health insurance through the Health Connector get help paying for their coverage through the ConnectorCare program. The Health Connector is the state’s health insurance Marketplace, the only place where residents can get help paying for their coverage, and where residents can be assured they are getting a comprehensive health plan they can count on and avoid the junk plans that lurk on search engines.
Since we're past the initial December 15th Open Enrollment Deadline for coverage starting January 1st in most states and since there's been several enrollment deadline extensions announced by various states (including two more today), I figured this would be a good time to post a completely updated rundown of just what the remaining deadlines are for every state as well as what your options are if you miss them.
This is basically a standalone version of the first section of my annual Open Enrollment Guide; I hope that separating it out will make it less overwhelming.
IDAHO: December 15th was the only deadline for 2026 coverage. If you missed it, you're pretty much out of luck unless you qualify for one of the following exceptions:
As I've noted before: While I include the passive/auto-renewal number for completeness sake, that number won't really be relevant until after the deadline for January 1st coverage passes (which was December 15th in most states, but not until 12/23 in MA & 12/31 in CA, IL, MD, NV, NJ, NM, PA, RI & VA).
More important for the moment is the total number of active enrollments, which includes both new enrollees as well as current enrollees who log into their account and actively select a plan for 2026.
In California, those come to 535,349 combined. This also means that only 23% of current enrollees had actively re-enrolled as of 12/13.
As of the same point last year (actually 1 day more; the data from last year is as of 12/14), Covered CA was reporting:
HARTFORD, Conn. (December 16, 2025) — Access Health CT (AHCT), Connecticut’s official health insurance marketplace, experienced intermittent website outages on Monday, December 15, 2025 that impacted customers who wanted to enroll by that date to have coverage starting January 1, 2026. The website has been fully restored and is now available for eligible Connecticut residents to enroll in coverage.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office of the Health Insurance Marketplace (OHIM) will release biweekly updates on plan selections through CoverME.gov, Maine’s Health Insurance Marketplace.
Plan selections provide a snapshot of activity by new and returning consumers who have selected a plan for 2026. “Plan selections” become “enrollments” once consumers have paid their first monthly premium to begin coverage. These numbers are subject to change as consumers may modify or cancel plans after their initial selection.
The deadline to select a plan for coverage beginning January 1, 2026 is December 15, 2025. Consumers who select a plan between December 16, 2025 and January 15, 2026 will have coverage beginning February 1, 2026.
...Assuming new enrollment continues to only lag slightly behind last year, there could be up to ~4 million new enrollees for 2026, which means total plan selections could potentially hit ~25 million...which would actually break last year's record of 24.3 million.
If this happens (or anything close to it), you can expect the following scenario to play out:
There's been a bunch of High Drama® within the House Republican caucus this morning as four "moderate" (aka, extremely vulnerable) Republicans have gone ahead and signed on to the Democrats discharge petition to force a House vote on a clean 3-year extension of the enhanced ACA tax credits.
The four who signed on are Brian Fitzpatrick, Rob Bresnahan, Ryan Mackenzie (all of PA) & Mike Lawler of NY (see thread here).
As of this writing, this development is also apparently causing a massive uproar, finger-pointing & backstabbing among House Republicans, with a lot of anger towards Speaker Mike Johnson, with at least one other vulnerable GOP member flat-out accusing him of lying, yadda yadda yadda.
What this actually means in terms of the enhanced subsidies, however, is a different story.
