Your Guide to Open Enrollment

Open enrollment is the time period each year when you’re allowed to start, stop, or change your health insurance plan. Normally, you sign up around the end of one calendar year for coverage that lasts the next full year. Here’s what you need to know about open enrollment. 

Open Enrollment for Health Insurance 

Plan Type	Dates
Marketplace plans (Healthcare.gov and state exchanges) and individual plans	November 1st to December 15th
Employer-sponsored health insurance	Dates depend on your employer, but typically in the fall
Medicare	October 15th to December 7th
Medicaid	No date restrictions- you can apply at any time

Open Enrollment for Federal and State Marketplace Plans

Each year the open enrollment window for private, individual health plans lasts 45 days from November 1st to December 15th. 

You can shop for individual health plans in four ways: 

• On the federal marketplace or state exchange via Healthcare.gov 
• On the phone, by calling the marketplace call center at 1-800-318-2596
• Directly on the insurer’s website 
• Via a local health insurance broker

The only way to get an individual health plan outside of open enrollment is to qualify for a special enrollment period. 

Open Enrollment for Employer-Sponsored Insurance

If your health insurance comes from an employer, your open enrollment period might change each year. Timing may depend on several factors, but selection generally occurs in the fall. 

If you decline your employer’s insurance, be aware that: 

• You can’t get premium tax credits for a marketplace plan unless your employer’s plan fails to meet minimum standards for coverage and affordability. 
• If you then fail to buy a plan during the open enrollment period for individual plans, you’ll be uninsured in some states and may have to pay a penalty. 

Medicare Open Enrollment

Medicare beneficiaries have other time periods throughout the year when they can change benefits. Unlike other types of insurance, Medicare has additional disenrollment periods. 

Important Dates for Medicare:

October 15th to December 7th	Open Enrollment
January 1st to February 14th	Medicare Advantage disenrollment period, when you can switch from Medicare Advantage to Original Medicare.
January 1st to March 31st	Medicare Parts A and B general enrollment. You can enroll in Parts A and B during this time, if you didn’t sign up when you were first eligible.

Missing deadlines, delaying enrollment, or choosing the wrong plan can significantly cost you.  By being aware of important enrollment dates, you could avoid these issues and choose the best health care plan for the upcoming year.