Should You Let Your Marketplace Plan Auto-Renew for 2027?

On this page

• What happens if you do nothing
• If your plan or insurer is leaving
• Why your 2027 bill can change even if your plan doesn’t
• The $5 charge and where the court case stands
• Failure to reconcile in 2026 and 2027
• What to update before December 15
• If you change plans after December 15
• Frequently asked questions

What happens if you do nothing

If you have Marketplace coverage in December and don’t pick a plan or cancel by December 15, HealthCare.gov will usually re-enroll you for January 1. You’ll go into the same plan if it’s still offered. If it isn’t, you’ll get a similar plan from the same company, and if your company isn’t selling Marketplace plans next year, a comparable plan from a different one. In some cases you won’t be re-enrolled at all, so read your notices.

You should get two letters by November 1: one from the Marketplace explaining how to update your application, and one from your insurer showing your 2027 premium after the tax credit. HealthCare.gov usually shows auto-renewals in your account around December 16. Most state-run exchanges process them around December 1 and set some of their own rules.

If you’re renewed with your current insurer, keep paying as usual. If you’re moved to a new insurer, your coverage won’t start until you pay that company’s first premium.

If your plan or insurer is leaving

When your plan ends, the Marketplace uses a set order of rules to pick a replacement, looking for the same type of plan, a similar network and the same metal level where it can. That plan may not include your doctors or cover your prescriptions the same way.

For 2027, Cigna is leaving all 11 states where it sells Marketplace plans, on and off the exchange, and KFF counts 11 insurers leaving some or all of their states, with 6 entering new ones. If yours is on the list, see what to do if your insurance company leaves the Marketplace and, for Cigna members, Cigna’s 2027 exit.

Why your 2027 bill can change even if your plan doesn’t

Insurers’ proposed 2027 rate changes had a median increase of 15% before subsidies; see 2027 premium increases by state. Your tax credit is the price of your area’s benchmark plan, the second-lowest-cost silver plan, minus the share of income you’re expected to pay. If a new or cheaper plan becomes the benchmark, your credit drops even if nothing else changes.

Your expected share also rises a little for 2027, to between 2.15% and 10.22% of income, up from 2.10% to 9.96% in 2026. Here’s a hypothetical single person earning $40,000 both years whose plan was the benchmark in 2026, at $625 a month:

	2026	2027, plan still the benchmark	2027, cheaper benchmark
Your plan’s price	$625	$720	$720
Benchmark plan’s price	$625	$720	$650
Tax credit	$338	$431	$361
You pay	$287	$289	$359

The same plan costs this person $2 more a month in one case and $72 more in the other. Renewal also works from the information the Marketplace already has. If you’ve had a raise, a pay cut, a baby or a divorce, your credit may be off until you update it. And on HealthCare.gov, if you never gave permission for the Marketplace to check your updated tax data, you can be renewed without any tax credit until you update your application.

The $5 charge and where the court case stands

A 2025 federal rule would have billed $5 a month to people on HealthCare.gov who were auto-renewed into a $0-premium plan, until they confirmed their eligibility. It applied only to 2026 plans, never to state-run exchanges. A federal court in Maryland blocked it in August 2025 before it took effect, then vacated it on June 12, 2026. HHS has appealed parts of that ruling, and the Fourth Circuit is set to hear arguments on October 30, 2026. Because the $5 policy was written to end with the 2026 plan year, it won’t apply to 2027 renewals however the appeal comes out.

Failure to reconcile in 2026 and 2027

Normally, if you got advance credits in a past year and didn’t file Form 8962 to reconcile them, the Marketplace can stop your credit. Under court orders, exchanges can’t do that for 2026 or 2027 coverage, CMS says. You still have to file the form, and you’ll owe back any extra credit with no cap; see paying back the premium tax credit. Starting with 2028 coverage, the 2025 tax law brings back a one-year rule and requires eligibility checks before credits start. Under a rule CMS proposed on October 23, 2026, the first check window would open August 1, 2027, and people who don’t confirm their information would be renewed without financial help. The proposal doesn’t change anything for 2027 renewals.

What to update before December 15

• Your 2027 income estimate. See what counts as income for Marketplace coverage.
• Household changes, such as a marriage, divorce, new baby or a child moving out.
• Your address, phone and email, so notices reach you.
• Any new offer of job-based coverage for someone in your household.
• Whether your doctors and prescriptions are in your 2027 plan’s network and drug list.
• Your total cost: the premium plus the deductible and copays you’d likely pay.
• If your income is under 250% of the poverty level and you’re in a bronze plan, whether a silver plan with cost-sharing reductions would cost you less overall. Bronze members who qualify for them are still renewed into bronze for 2027.

If you change plans after December 15

On HealthCare.gov, a plan you choose from December 16 through January 15 starts February 1. You keep the auto-renewed plan for January, so pay its January premium if you want to stay covered that month. After January 15, HealthCare.gov lets you switch only with a qualifying life event. State exchanges set their own dates, and some allow more time for a January 1 start, such as December 31 in California and New Jersey. For a fresh start, see how to sign up for Marketplace coverage.

Before you let your plan renew, compare 2027 plans and prices by ZIP code.

Frequently asked questions

Will I lose my coverage if I don’t renew?

Usually not. If you have Marketplace coverage in December and don’t act, you’ll typically be re-enrolled, but some people aren’t, so check your renewal notice and your account.

Do I have to pay the $5 auto re-enrollment charge in 2027?

No. It was a 2026-only rule for HealthCare.gov, a court blocked it before it started, and it was vacated in June 2026.

My insurer is leaving. Do I have to do anything?

If you don’t pick a plan, you’ll be placed in a comparable plan from another company, but you’ll owe that company’s first premium and its network may be different. Picking your own plan by December 15 avoids surprises.

This article is general information, not insurance, tax or legal advice. Renewal rules and deadlines differ on state-run exchanges, and your 2027 price depends on your county, age, income and plan. Last reviewed October 2026.