Nearly 5.8 million people have enrolled in ACA marketplace plans for 2026 coverage, outpacing last year’s enrollment figures at the same point in the open enrollment period, according to new data published Dec. 5 by CMS.
Americans have until Dec. 15 to sign up for coverage that begins Jan. 1, but open enrollment runs through Jan. 15 for coverage that begins later in the year. About 17 million current ACA enrollees have yet to sign up for 2026 coverage.
Enhanced ACA premium tax credits are set to expire Dec. 31. The Senate has scheduled competing votes for Dec. 11: Democrats are pushing a three-year extension of the enhanced subsidies, while Republicans have lined up a vote on the Crapo-Cassidy bill, which would fund cost-sharing reduction payments, expand access to catastrophic plans and create HSAs for exchange enrollees.
Six findings from the latest data:
1. Total plan selections through late November reached nearly 5.8 million, up about 7% from nearly 5.4 million at roughly the same point last year.
2. New consumer enrollment is down. About 949,450 new consumers signed up for 2026 coverage, compared to 987,869 new consumers at this point last year, a roughly 4% decline.
3. Returning consumers drove the gains. Nearly 4.8 million existing enrollees actively returned to select a plan, up about 10% from 4.4 million last year.
4. State-based exchanges outpaced Healthcare.gov growth. Plan selections on state-run exchanges grew 22% year over year to 1.2 million, while Healthcare.gov selections rose 4% to 4.6 million.
5. Florida and Texas still account for the largest share of enrollees. Florida led with 1.7 million plan selections (up 16% year over year), followed by Texas with 1.3 million (up 17%).
6. More than 5.3 million consumers were auto re-enrolled in state-based exchanges, up from about 5 million last year. Healthcare.gov auto re-enrollment figures were not included in the report.
