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When Is Pennie Open Enrollment for 2027? Dates, the December 15 Deadline, and the Approved Pennsylvania Rates
Written and reviewed by Dick Tracy, licensed health insurance broker (NPN 20414610) · Published September 24, 2026
Quick answer Pennie open enrollment for 2027 coverage runs from November 1, 2026 through January 15, 2027. Pick a plan by December 15, 2026 and it starts January 1, 2027. Pick one between December 16 and January 15 and you start February 1, with January uncovered. The big news this year is the price. On September 18, 2026 the Pennsylvania Insurance Department approved an average 15.97% increase for individual plans (insurers asked for 17.14%), and the carriers land anywhere from 1.4% at Oscar to 35.1% at Ambetter. Pennsylvania adds no state subsidy on top of the federal credit, and the 400% cliff is back. Medical Assistance and CHIP have no window at all. Neither do the medically underwritten private plans Pennsylvania allows, or the group plans I use for healthy self-employed Pennsylvanians. I educate, you decide.
I'm Dick Tracy, an independent health insurance broker licensed in Pennsylvania (NPN 20414610), one of 25 states, working with 80+ carriers. I came from the healthcare side of this business, billing codes and prior authorizations and the real price behind the "allowable" rate, so there's no gag clause on me. You get the tips, the tricks, and the traps. The trap on this page: Pennsylvania's window is longer than the one on HealthCare.gov, but the date that actually matters is the one in the middle.
and runs through Jan. 15, 2027
for a Jan. 1, 2027 start
increase for 2027 (asked: 17.14%)
Sources: Pennie FAQ (yearly window November 1 to January 15, December 15 for a January 1 start); Pennsylvania Insurance Department, September 18, 2026 (approved rates; "November 1 to December 15 for coverage that starts on January 1, 2027"). Last verified September 24, 2026.
What are the Pennie open enrollment dates for 2027?
Every row comes from Pennie's own pages or the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. Pennie describes its window as the same every year, November 1 to January 15, and the Insurance Department's September 18 announcement confirms the November 1 start for 2027 plans. The 2027-specific Pennie notice had not been posted when I wrote this, so the two dates that follow Pennie's standing schedule are marked "expected." I will update the table the day it posts.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| November 1, 2026 | Open enrollment begins for 2027 Qualified Health Plans. Anyone can sign up or change plans. |
| December 15, 2026 (expected) | Pick a plan by this date for coverage that starts January 1, 2027. Pennie has used December 15 as the January 1 cutoff every year, and the Insurance Department repeated it for 2027. |
| January 1, 2027 | New plan year begins. New deductible, new out-of-pocket maximum, new rates. |
| January 15, 2027 (expected) | Open enrollment ends, per Pennie's standing yearly schedule. |
| February 1, 2027 | Coverage starts for anyone who picked a plan between December 16 and January 15. |
Sources: Pennie FAQ ("Pennie's annual Open Enrollment Period runs from November 1st to January 15th"; "December 15th is the deadline for coverage that begins January 1st"; "If you enroll between December 16 and January 15, your health coverage will begin February 1st"); Pennsylvania Insurance Department, September 18, 2026; Pennsylvania Health Law Project, August 28, 2026 ("Open Enrollment for 2027 coverage runs from November 1, 2026 through January 15, 2027").
Miss December 15 and you are starting February 1. That is a full month with no coverage, right after the holidays, which is exactly when people find out they need it. Decide early. Then enjoy December.
How much are Pennsylvania health insurance rates going up in 2027?
A lot, and for the second year running. On September 18, 2026 the Pennsylvania Insurance Department finished its review. Insurers asked for an average 17.14% on individual plans and got 15.97%. They asked for 11.49% on small group plans and got 10.28%. The department says its actuaries blocked $94.7 million in increases the companies could not justify. Last year's approved individual average was 21.5%, so this is the second double-digit year in a row on Pennie.
Averages hide the story, though. Fourteen carriers sell individual plans in Pennsylvania, and the approvals land all over the map:
| Carrier (individual market) | Asked | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Oscar Health Plan of PA | 15.4% | 1.4% |
| Geisinger Health Plan | 10.5% | 8.6% |
| UPMC Health Network | 12.0% | 9.7% |
| Geisinger Quality Options | 13.0% | 10.7% |
| UPMC Health Plan | 15.8% | 13.5% |
| Highmark Inc. | 16.2% | 14.5% |
| Capital Advantage Assurance (Capital Blue Cross) | 18.3% | 14.8% |
| Keystone Health Plan East (Independence Blue Cross) | 14.7% | 16.0% |
| Health Partners Plans | 15.9% | 18.3% |
| Partners Insurance Company | 20.5% | 18.8% |
| Highmark Benefits Group | 21.4% | 19.7% |
| QCC Insurance Company (Independence Blue Cross) | 19.9% | 21.3% |
| Keystone Health Plan Central (Capital Blue Cross) | 33.8% | 33.4% |
| Ambetter Health of Pennsylvania | 40.9% | 35.1% |
Source: Pennsylvania Insurance Department press release, September 18, 2026 (statewide averages, dollars blocked, carrier-level requested and approved changes). Averages across each carrier's plans; your own plan's change is on your renewal notice. Three carriers were approved for slightly more than they first asked because the department's review can move a rate in either direction.
Read that table like a detective. If you are on an Oscar or Geisinger plan, your rate barely moved and staying put may be right. If you are on a Keystone Central or Ambetter plan, a 33% or 35% average increase on top of last year's 21.5% is the kind of letter that makes people say the math doesn't math. That letter is your cue to shop, not to sigh and pay it. I explain the "why" behind these letters in Why did my health insurance go up?
What else changed for 2027 on Pennie?
| Change | What it means |
|---|---|
| Enhanced federal credits are gone | The bigger premium tax credits from 2021 expired December 31, 2025 and were not extended. The credit again stops cold at 400% of the federal poverty level: one dollar over and it is zero. That is the subsidy cliff, and it is back for 2027. |
| No state subsidy to soften it | Pennie offers only the federal credit and cost-sharing reductions. Pennsylvania has never funded a state premium subsidy the way New York, New Jersey, California, and Maryland have, which is why Pennie's own releases say one in five enrollees dropped coverage in early 2026. Every income line is on Pennie income limits 2026. |
| Rates | 15.97% average approved increase on individual plans, 10.28% on small group, with carrier results from 1.4% to 35.1% (table above). |
| Tax credit eligibility narrows January 1, 2027 | Under the 2025 federal budget law, advance premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions are limited to citizens plus three groups of lawfully present immigrants starting with 2027 coverage. The Pennsylvania Health Law Project estimates 20,000 to 30,000 Pennsylvanians lose eligibility. If that is you, the private doors below matter more, not less. |
| Medical Assistance rules tighten January 1, 2027 | Some adults 19 to 64 must meet an 80-hour-a-month work or activity requirement and renew every six months instead of every year, per the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. Parents of children under 14, pregnant people, and people in substance use treatment are among the exempt. |
| Carriers | Fourteen insurers had 2026 plans; healthinsurance.org counts thirteen offering marketplace coverage for 2027. Check that your doctors are still in your plan's network anyway. Networks change more often than carriers do. |
| The window itself | Unchanged. A 2025 federal rule would have forced every marketplace to close by December 31 starting with 2027 plans. A federal court vacated that provision on June 12, 2026 in City of Columbus v. Kennedy, and the appeal is set for argument October 30, 2026. Pennie's yearly schedule stands. Either way, December 15 is my advice. |
Sources: Pennie, What's New ("These enhanced tax credits expired December 31, 2025"); Pennie press release, February 9, 2026 (one in five dropped); healthinsurance.org, Pennsylvania marketplace guide (no state subsidy, thirteen insurers for 2027); Pennsylvania Health Law Project, August 28, 2026 (tax credit eligibility, monthly special enrollment change); PA Department of Human Services, Medicaid changes; Georgetown Health Care Litigation Tracker (federal window case).
The cliff is the one to respect. Under 400% of the poverty level, guess your income low and the IRS takes the difference back at tax time. Over it, you pay sticker, and in Pennsylvania there is no state program waiting to catch you. Run the free 2026 subsidy cliff calculator and check the Pennsylvania income limits before you fall in love with a monthly number.
Which Pennsylvania programs have no open enrollment window?
Two public ones, plus two private doors most people never hear about. Medical Assistance and CHIP take applications any month. And because Pennsylvania allows medically underwritten private plans, a healthy person can be quoted, approved, and covered in any month too. The open enrollment calendar only governs the Qualified Health Plans sold through Pennie.
| Type of coverage | When you can start it |
|---|---|
| Qualified Health Plan (the regular Pennie plan) | November 1 to January 15, or within 60 days of a qualifying life event |
| Medical Assistance (Pennsylvania's Medicaid, adults up to 138% of the poverty level) | Any time. New work and six-month renewal rules for some adults from January 1, 2027. |
| CHIP (children, no income cap, premium slides with income) | Any time. Pennie's FAQ: "children can enroll in CHIP at any time during the year." |
| A medically underwritten private plan (healthy applicants) | Any month. The carrier asks health questions and prices you on the answers. |
| A pre-established ERISA group plan | Any month. Group plans are not tied to the individual open enrollment calendar. |
Sources: Pennie FAQ (CHIP any time, 60-day special enrollment); healthinsurance.org, Pennsylvania Medicaid (138% adult limit; CHIP has no income cap, the premium slides with income); PA Department of Human Services, Medicaid changes (January 1, 2027 rules).
What is the special enrollment period, and what counts?
Outside the window, a Pennie plan takes a qualifying life event: losing other coverage, marriage, a baby or adoption, a permanent move, and a handful of others. Pennie gives you 60 days from the event to report it and enroll (Pennie FAQ). The most common event by far is a layoff, and in Pennsylvania it starts two or three clocks at once: 60 days to pick a Pennie plan, 60 days to elect federal COBRA if your employer had 20 or more people, or only 30 days to elect Pennsylvania mini-COBRA if it had 2 to 19. Use the first week, not the eighth.
Two traps. Dropping a plan on purpose is not a qualifying event: quitting COBRA early, or letting a plan lapse because you stopped paying, does not open a new window. And for 2027 the monthly special enrollment period that lower-income households used to get no longer comes with financial help, per the Pennsylvania Health Law Project. Decide on purpose, not by default.
What should I actually do before November 1?
Here is the part the marketplace's own materials will never tell you, because it is not their job. The November to January calendar governs individual plans sold through Pennie. It does not govern group coverage, and it does not govern the private plans Pennsylvania lets carriers underwrite. For a healthy Pennsylvanian who earns too much for a subsidy, those doors are usually the ones worth pricing first, and 2027's 15.97% makes that truer than last year.
The pre-established ERISA group plan is the door I lead with. ERISA is the 1974 federal law that governs employer benefit plans. Group plans already exist under it, and a self-employed person, a 1099 contractor, or a small business's people can be merged into one. Group rates. A true PPO network, PHCS and MultiPlan nationwide, instead of the regional HMO networks most Pennie plans carry. A policy you own and take with you to the next job. The business can be the payer. No employees required, and one simple compliance step I walk you through. It is not tied to the open enrollment calendar at all. Here is the ERISA cheat code, explained.
Door two is the one Pennsylvania has and New York does not: a medically underwritten private plan. The carrier asks about your health and prices you on the answers instead of on the sickest person in a pool, usually with a national PPO. When neither fits, I customize the plan based on the situation. Often that is cost-effective, customized individual plans instead of a one-size-fits-all plan, layered with gap protection or accident coverage where the math says so. And sometimes the honest answer is a Pennie plan. I will tell you which, with the numbers next to each other. The full order of doors is on my Pennsylvania self-employed guide.
Healthy, self-employed, income over the subsidy line
Price the pre-established ERISA group plan and an underwritten private plan first, in any month. Then compare them against a Pennie plan at sticker. Your renewal letter's percentage is the tiebreaker, and in Pennsylvania it averages 15.97% this year. The Pennsylvania doors, in order, are here.
Income under the subsidy lines
A subsidized Pennie plan may be your best deal, and I will tell you so. The trade-offs: narrower networks, an income estimate you have to get right, and repayment at tax time if you guess low, with no state subsidy to cushion any of it. Run the subsidy calculator, preset for Pennsylvania, then bring me the number.
Small business owner with a few employees
You have no window to wait for. Three routes: traditional fully insured small group (10.28% average approved increase for 2027), the pre-established ERISA group merge, or no group plan at all. I customize the plan based on the situation, often cost-effective customized individual plans instead of a one-size-fits-all group plan.
Lost coverage in the middle of the year
The clock is 60 days, or 30 on mini-COBRA. Call me in week one, not week eight, and we price COBRA against every other door before any clock runs out. Start with the alternatives to COBRA in Pennsylvania.
A serious diagnosis in the last five years
Guaranteed-issue coverage, for now. Pennie plans cannot ask health questions and cannot say no. Take that protection, do not miss the window, and we revisit the other doors later.
Common questions about Pennie open enrollment 2027
When is Pennie open enrollment for 2027?
Pennie open enrollment for 2027 coverage begins November 1, 2026 and is expected to end January 15, 2027. Pennie's own site says its open enrollment period runs yearly from November 1 to January 15, and the Pennsylvania Insurance Department's September 18, 2026 rate announcement confirms the November start for 2027 plans. Pennsylvania runs its own marketplace and sets its own dates, so the window is two weeks longer than the December 31 close a 2025 federal rule tried to impose before a court vacated it. As of September 24, 2026 Pennie had not posted a 2027-specific notice, so the January 15 end date follows Pennie's standing schedule.
What is the Pennie deadline for coverage starting January 1, 2027?
December 15, 2026 is the date to plan around. Pennie's FAQ says December 15 is the deadline for coverage that begins January 1, and anyone who enrolls between December 16 and January 15 starts February 1 instead. The Pennsylvania Insurance Department's September 18, 2026 announcement says the same: November 1 to December 15 for coverage that starts January 1, 2027. Miss December 15 and January is uncovered unless you have a qualifying event.
How much are Pennsylvania health insurance rates going up in 2027?
The Pennsylvania Insurance Department announced on September 18, 2026 that it approved an average increase of 15.97% for individual plans in 2027, down from the 17.14% insurers requested, and 10.28% for small group plans, down from 11.49%. The department says its review blocked $94.7 million in unjustified premium increases. Carriers vary widely: Oscar Health Plan of PA was approved for 1.4%, Geisinger Health Plan for 8.6%, UPMC Health Network for 9.7%, Highmark Inc. for 14.5%, Keystone Health Plan Central for 33.4%, and Ambetter for 35.1%.
Does Pennsylvania have a state subsidy on top of the federal tax credit?
No. Pennie offers only the federal premium tax credit and cost-sharing reductions. Pennsylvania has never funded a state premium subsidy the way New York, New Jersey, California, and Maryland have, so when the enhanced federal credits expired December 31, 2025, Pennsylvanians felt the full drop. Pennie's own press releases say one in five enrollees dropped coverage in early 2026, with higher plan costs the number one reason. For 2027 the federal credit again stops cold at 400% of the poverty level.
Can I enroll in Medical Assistance or CHIP outside Pennie open enrollment?
Yes. Medical Assistance, Pennsylvania's Medicaid, and CHIP accept applications any time of year. Pennie's FAQ says children who qualify can enroll in CHIP at any time, and CHIP has no income cap in Pennsylvania, only a sliding premium. The open enrollment window applies to Qualified Health Plans, the private plans sold through Pennie. One 2027 change to know: starting January 1, 2027, some adults 19 to 64 on Medical Assistance must meet an 80-hour-a-month work or activity requirement and renew every six months instead of every year, per the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services.
What is the special enrollment period on Pennie?
A special enrollment period lets you sign up for a Qualified Health Plan outside the November 1 to January 15 window after a qualifying life event, such as losing other coverage, getting married, having a baby, or a permanent move. Pennie's FAQ says you generally have 60 days to report the event and enroll. Losing a job-based plan is the most common trigger, and it starts the same 60-day clock as federal COBRA, or a 30-day clock for Pennsylvania mini-COBRA at employers with 2 to 19 workers. One 2027 change: the monthly special enrollment period for lower-income households no longer comes with financial help, per the Pennsylvania Health Law Project.
Do I have to wait for open enrollment to get health insurance in Pennsylvania?
Only for an individual Qualified Health Plan through Pennie. Medical Assistance and CHIP enroll year-round if you qualify. Pennsylvania also allows medically underwritten private plans, which a healthy person can apply for in any month, and group coverage is not tied to the individual calendar, including the pre-established ERISA group plans I use for healthy self-employed Pennsylvanians: group rates, a true PPO network, and a policy you own, started when you need it. Losing coverage mid-year also opens a 60-day special enrollment period. An independent broker prices all of those side by side at no cost to you.
Thirty minutes on the phone or Zoom, no fee, no hard sell. Bring your renewal letter, a rough income number, your doctors, and how you use care. I put every Pennsylvania door that fits you side by side, including the ones with no enrollment window, before you lock anything in for 2027. I educate, you decide.
Grab a time right here
Pick a slot below and it lands on both our calendars. Phone or Zoom, plan documents on the screen, real numbers side by side. I educate, you decide.
Who you'll be talking to: me, Richard "Dick" Tracy. Real name, real job.
Independent health insurance broker · NPN 20414610 · Licensed in 25 states · 80+ carriers · Buffalo, NY
No call center, and no lead form that sells your name to ten agencies. The person who answers 716-503-1113 is the same person in this photo. I educate, you decide.
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