Obamacare 2027: what to have ready before enrollment opens November 1

Open Enrollment for 2027 Marketplace coverage, the plans most people call Obamacare, runs from Sunday, November 1, 2026 to Friday, January 15, 2027. Pick a plan by December 15 and it starts on January 1. Pick it between December 16 and January 15 and it starts on February 1.

Before enrollment opens, usually in the last days of October, the Marketplace posts a preview of next year's plans and prices. Nobody can enroll during the preview. But you and your agent can see what 2027 looks like and do the homework, so that on November 1 the decision is already made.

This article is that homework.

The short version

• Write down your medicines. Every one, with the dose.
• Write down your doctors. Every doctor, specialist, hospital and pharmacy you want to keep.
• Write down anything planned for 2027. A surgery, a baby on the way, a treatment that continues.
• Gather your income. Every person on your tax return, every source.
• Make sure we are authorized for 2027. It is a new rule, and without it we cannot renew your plan.

Bring it to us during the preview, or call us. It takes one conversation.

Why bother, if your plan renews anyway

If you do nothing, the Marketplace may renew you into the same plan or a similar one. It renews at 2027 prices and under 2027 rules, whether they still fit you or not.

Plans change every year. The premium, the deductible, the copays, the list of doctors and the list of covered medicines can all be different in January. Your savings are recalculated too, from what you tell the Marketplace about your income for the new year.

The plan that was right for you in 2026 may not be the right one in 2027. The only way to know is to compare, and comparing well takes the information below.

Your medicines

Bring the name of each medicine exactly as it appears on the bottle or the box, the dose, and how often you take it. Include injections, insulin, inhalers and anything you get from a specialty pharmacy. Tell us which pharmacy you use.

Why it matters: every plan has its own list of covered drugs, and it puts each drug in a tier with its own price. Those lists change every year. A medicine you get with a low copay in 2026 can move to a more expensive tier, need the plan's approval first, or drop off the list in 2027.

Two plans with the same premium can cost you very different amounts at the pharmacy. If you take a medicine every month, that difference repeats twelve times.

Your doctors and hospitals

Bring the full name of every doctor you want to keep, your specialists, the hospital you would go to and any clinic you use. A city or an office address helps us find the right one.

Why it matters: each plan pays for care from its own network of doctors and hospitals, and networks change from year to year. A doctor who takes your plan today may not take it in 2027. Care outside the network can cost you much more, or not be covered at all.

Some plans also ask you to get a referral from your primary care doctor before you see a specialist. If you see specialists often, that is worth knowing before you choose.

We check every name in the plan's directory with you. For a doctor you cannot do without, it is also worth calling the office and asking whether they will take that specific plan in 2027.

Anything planned for 2027

Tell us about anything you already know is coming: a surgery, a pregnancy, physical therapy, regular visits to a specialist, scans, or a treatment that continues into next year.

Why it matters: the premium is only part of what a plan costs you. The rest is what you pay when you use it: the deductible, the copays and the coinsurance, up to the plan's yearly out-of-pocket limit. For 2027 the standard limit is $12,000 for one person and $24,000 for a family, up from $10,600 and $21,200 in 2026. Many plans set theirs lower. The plans with the lowest premiums usually set it high.

If you expect a quiet year, a lower premium may be the right choice. If you know a surgery is coming in March, a plan with a higher premium and a lower deductible can cost you less for the year as a whole. For each plan you are considering, we add up both sides: the premium, and the care you expect to use.

One more thing. If your household income is up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level, Silver plans come with extra savings on what you pay for care, and only Silver plans do. In 2027 a Silver plan with those savings cannot make one person pay more than $4,000 in a year, or $9,600 at the upper end of that income range, against the standard $12,000. Choosing a Bronze plan to save a few dollars a month can mean giving that up.

Your income: where the surprises come from

The savings that lower your premium, called the premium tax credit, are based on what you expect your household to earn in 2027. When you file your taxes, the IRS compares that estimate with what you actually earned.

If you earned more than you estimated, you received more help than you were entitled to, and you pay the difference back. Until now, most people had a limit on how much they had to repay. Starting with tax year 2026, there is no limit. You repay the full difference. That applies to the taxes you file next spring for 2026, and to 2027 after that.

So the income you give the Marketplace matters more than it ever has. Gather this for everyone who will be on your tax return:

• Work: recent pay stubs, and last year's W-2s and 1099s.
• Self-employment: what you expect to earn after business expenses. Last year's tax return is the best starting point.
• Other income: Social Security, pensions, retirement withdrawals, unemployment, rental income, interest and investments.
• Changes you expect in 2027: a new job, a raise, a job that ends, retirement, a marriage, a divorce, a baby, a child you will stop claiming on your return.
• Job-based coverage: if anyone in the household can get health insurance through a job, bring what it would cost them. It can affect whether you qualify for help.

Not everything counts. Child support you receive, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and gifts do not, for example. Bring it all and we will sort out what goes in.

Three more things that save people money at tax time:

• Watch the upper line. Under current law, if your household earns more than four times the federal poverty level for its size, you do not qualify for the tax credit at all. A raise or a bonus that pushes you over that line can mean paying back every dollar of help you received. We can tell you where that line falls for your household.
• Report changes during the year. If your income or your household changes, tell us and we update your application. Your help is adjusted from then on, instead of all at once at tax time. If your 2026 income has turned out higher than you told the Marketplace, tell us now: updating it for the last months of the year shrinks what you would owe.
• Keep your Form 1095-A, and file every year. The Marketplace sends it in January. You need it to fill out Form 8962 with your federal tax return, and you have to file and reconcile for every year you received help, even if you do not usually file taxes.

If you are not a U.S. citizen

A federal law passed in 2025 changes who can get financial help in the Marketplace, starting January 1, 2027. From then on, the tax credit and the extra Silver savings are available only to U.S. citizens and nationals, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), Cuban and Haitian entrants, and migrants from Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau who live here under their countries' compacts with the United States.

People with other lawful statuses, such as a work visa, asylum or Temporary Protected Status, can still buy a Marketplace plan in 2027, but at full price. Members of the same household who do qualify keep their help.

This is where doing nothing costs the most. According to the Marketplace's own guidance, someone who no longer qualifies and does not act during Open Enrollment may be renewed automatically, without any help, at the full premium from January 1.

If this may affect anyone in your household, bring their immigration documents during the preview and we will go through them with you. If your status has changed, a new green card for example, tell us, because it can change what you qualify for. And if Marketplace help is no longer an option, we also offer plans outside the Marketplace and can compare them with you.

Keep us authorized, all year

Since October 12, 2026, the Marketplace requires you to authorize your agent before the agent can work on your application. We send you that request through HealthSherpa, by text or by email, and you tap Authorize.

• It is once per plan year. An authorization for 2026 does not carry over. Without one for 2027, we can see your application but cannot renew it or change it.
• Only one agent can be authorized at a time. If someone else asks you to authorize them and you do, ours ends at that moment. If a request reaches you from an agent you do not know, call us before you tap anything.
• It goes to the phone or email on your Marketplace application. If yours has changed, call us and we will walk you through updating it, or the request will never reach you.

The authorization is not only for renewing. It is what lets us report a raise, a new baby or a move during the year, which is exactly what keeps the tax surprises above from happening. Our step-by-step guide to the agent authorization shows what the request looks like and what to tap.

Your checklist

• Your medicines, with the dose, and the pharmacy you use
• Your doctors, specialists, hospital and clinics
• Anything planned or ongoing in 2027
• Income for everyone on your tax return, and the changes you expect
• What job-based coverage would cost, if anyone in the household can get it
• Immigration documents, if anyone in the household is not a U.S. citizen
• Your 2027 authorization for us, if you have not done it yet

Come in before the rush

The preview weeks are the calm before the season. In December the phones are busy and the deadline is close. Bring us your list now and we will compare the 2027 plans with you, in English or in Spanish, at no cost to you.

Call us at (800) 305-7709 or come by the office at 7650 W Flagler St, Miami, FL 33144. If you are new to Marketplace coverage, start with What Obamacare covers and who qualifies.

Doctor Insurance One is a licensed insurance agency. We are not the Marketplace or the government. You can also enroll on your own at HealthCare.gov or by calling the Marketplace at 1-800-318-2596.

Sources

• HealthCare.gov, Dates and deadlines
• CMS, Statement on the Failure to File and Reconcile requirement for plan years 2026 and 2027, July 27, 2026, for the November 1 to January 15 dates and the requirement to file and reconcile
• CMS, Maximum annual limitation on cost sharing for 2027, for the $12,000, $24,000, $4,000 and $9,600 limits
• IRS, Repayment caps eliminated for excess advance payments of the premium tax credit
• HealthCare.gov, What to include as income
• HealthCare.gov, Why it's important to report changes
• CMS, Guidance on noncitizen eligibility for financial help for plan year 2027, October 5, 2026
• HealthSherpa, Agent authorization

Rules have exceptions and change from year to year. HealthCare.gov is the authority on your own situation, and a tax professional on your taxes. Sources consulted October 20, 2026.