Healthcare.gov extended the deadline to December 18 for coverage, starting January 1.

Find plans here.

Did you miss the December 15th deadline for ACA coverage starting January 1, 2025? You may still have time in January—deadlines vary by state. 

Check below for your state’s deadline for coverage starting February 1, 2025.

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1. What is the deadline for Health Insurance Marketplace plans for 2025 coverage?

• In most states, the deadline is January 15, but there are exceptions.
• December 15 is the deadline for a January 1 start. After December 15, coverage starts February 1.

2. Which states have a January 15 open enrollment deadline?

• 43 states use HealthCare.gov and have a January 15 deadline.
• Examples: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia.

Deadline	States
December 16	Idaho*
January 15	Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine (state-run), Maryland (state-run), Michigan, Minnesota (state-run), Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada (state-run), New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania (state-run), South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont (state-run), Virginia (state-run), Washington (state-run), West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
January 16	Georgia (state-run in 2025), Kentucky
January 23	Massachusetts
January 31	California, District of Columbia, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island

3. Which states do not end open enrollment on January 15?

• Some states with their own exchanges have different deadlines:
  • California, DC, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island: January 31
  • Kentucky: January 16
  • Massachusetts: January 23
  • Idaho: December 16 (earlier deadline)

4. Who can enroll year-round in ACA plans?

• American Indians/Alaska Natives
• People eligible for Medicaid or CHIP
• Special programs in some states, like Basic Health Programs or ConnectorCare.

5. Can I enroll outside of open enrollment?

You can enroll outside the open period only if you qualify for a special enrollment period (due to a qualifying life event, (QLE)).

QLEs grant a 60-day Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for selecting new coverage or changing existing plans. 

Common QLEs include 

• Marriage
• Divorce
• Having a baby
• Losing employer coverage
• Moving to a new ZIP code. 

Your SEP begins the day of the event, and coverage typically starts the first day of the following month. If you don’t enroll within 60 days, you’ll have to wait for the next open enrollment period, but you may be eligible for temporary coverage in the meantime. Remember, using a SEP incurs no penalties, and insurers must accept your application just like during open enrollment. 

State Health Insurance Directory

State Health Insurance Resources

Navigating health insurance as a college student can be overwhelming, but understanding your options will help you find the best coverage for your needs.

Important Considerations

• Coverage Through Your Parents’ Plan: If you’re under 26, you can remain on your parent’s health plan.
• ACA Marketplace Plan subsidies, or financial aid, is expanded through 2025. Use our ACA Subsidy Calculator to answer a few easy questions to determine your subsidy eligibility in seconds.*

*Health Insurance Marketplace Cost-Sharing Reduction Subsidies by Zip Code and County 2016. The dataset provides the total number of Qualified Health Plan (QHP) selections for individuals receiving cost-sharing reductions, by state, ZIP Code and county for the 38 states that use the HealthCare.gov platform, including the Federally-facilitated Marketplaces, State Partnership Marketplaces, and supported State-based Marketplaces, during the Marketplace’s third Open Enrollment Period (based on data for the period November 1, 2015 – February 1, 2016). The data represent the net number of unique individuals who have selected a Marketplace plan through one of the 38 states using the Healthcare.gov platform in cost-sharing variants (based on data for the period November 1, 2015 – February 1, 2016), and have a non-cancelled Marketplace plan selection that includes March 2016 coverage. The 9.63 million plan selections for these 38 states were tabulated by ZIP Code and county according to the home address provided for each individual. Data for ZIP Codes and counties with 1 to 10 plan selections were suppressed due to privacy concerns. Counter or secondary suppression is applied where only one geographic area is suppressed for primary reasons. In these cases, the geographic area with the next smallest count is suppressed as well.  A total of 27,765 ZIP Codes and 2,601 counties from the 38 states are listed in the table, which account for 9,625,982 plan selections. ZIP Codes without plan selection data account for less than 0.3 percent of the total 9.63 million plan selections, and Counties without data account for less than 0.01 percent of the total 9.63 million plan selections.  Less than 0.1 percent of consumers with CSRs on the county level file and less than 0.6 percent in the ZIP Code file are suppressed.