Open enrollment beginsNovember 1See the dates that apply to you.

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Pennsylvania · Plan year 2027

Open enrollment in Pennsylvania: the dates that matter

Two separate calendars govern health coverage in Pennsylvania, and they do not line up. This page lays out both, says plainly what happens if you miss one, and links to the government pages every date came from.

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Dates verified August 5, 2026. Enrollment periods can change, so confirm at pennie.com and medicare.gov before you act.

First question

Which calendar applies to you?

Before any date is useful, you need to know which system you are in. Most people are only in one.

You buy your own coverage and you're under 65

You shop through Pennie, Pennsylvania's health insurance marketplace. Pennie is the only place in Pennsylvania where you can use a premium tax credit to lower what you pay.

Pennie dates

You're 65 or older, or already on Medicare

Your dates come from Medicare, not Pennie. Medicare runs on its own calendar, and it opens two weeks earlier in the fall than Pennie does.

Medicare dates

You get coverage through an employer

Your employer sets its own annual enrollment window, and it is often nowhere near these dates. Ask your HR or benefits contact. A marketplace deadline does not govern an employer plan.

Neither timeline below
The two calendars

Key dates for 2027 coverage

Every window below is set by the federal government or by Pennie. Both the opening and the closing date are shown, because the closing date is the one that costs people coverage.

Pennie · Pennsylvania's marketplace

Pennie open enrollment for 2027 coverage

Pennie is Pennsylvania's Affordable Care Act marketplace. Outside this window you generally need a qualifying life event to enroll or change plans.

  1. November 1, 2026

    Open enrollment opens

    The first day you can apply for 2027 coverage, renew, or switch to a different plan through Pennie.

  2. December 15, 2026

    Deadline for coverage starting January 1

    Enroll by this date and your coverage begins on the first day of the year. This is the deadline most people mean when they talk about open enrollment.

  3. January 1, 2027

    Coverage begins

    For everyone who completed enrollment by December 15 and paid their first premium.

  4. January 15, 2027

    Open enrollment closes

    The last day to enroll for 2027 at all. After this, enrolling requires a qualifying life event.

  5. February 1, 2027

    Coverage begins for later sign-ups

    For anyone who enrolled between December 16 and January 15. Note the gap: sign up in that window and you are uninsured for the month of January.

Federal rules governing marketplace enrollment windows were changed and then challenged in court during 2026, and Pennie adjusted its calendar more than once as a result. These dates were correct as of the verification date shown above, but confirm them at pennie.com before you rely on them.

Medicare · Federal

Medicare enrollment periods

Medicare has several enrollment windows and they do different things. The one most people mean by 'open enrollment' is the fall window for changing Medicare Advantage and drug coverage.

  1. October 15 – December 7, 2026

    Medicare Open Enrollment

    Join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage plan or a Medicare drug plan, or move between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Changes made in this window take effect January 1, 2027.

  2. January 1 – March 31, 2027

    Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment

    If you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan on January 1, you get one opportunity to switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan or to return to Original Medicare. This window is not open to people on Original Medicare.

  3. January 1 – March 31, 2027

    General Enrollment Period

    For people who did not sign up for Part A or Part B when they were first eligible and have no other qualifying reason to delay. Coverage begins the month after you enroll, and a late enrollment penalty may apply for as long as you have the coverage.

  4. 7 months around your 65th birthday

    Initial Enrollment Period

    Your own window, not a fixed calendar date: the three months before the month you turn 65, the birthday month itself, and the three months after. Most people who miss it face a permanent penalty, so it is worth marking.

  5. 6 months from Part B

    Medicare Supplement open enrollment

    A one-time six-month window that starts the month you are both 65 or older and enrolled in Part B. During it, Medicare Supplement policies are sold without medical underwriting. Once it closes, that protection generally does not come back.

Medicare's fall window opens two weeks before Pennie's. If you are helping a parent with Medicare and shopping for yourself on Pennie in the same season, they are two separate calendars.

Outside the window

Missed it? You may still have a way in

Both systems allow enrollment outside the normal windows after certain life events. These are set by law. No broker, including us, can create one for you.

Pennie qualifying life events

Pennie generally gives you 60 days from the event to enroll or change plans, and some events let you shop up to 60 days beforehand. Certain events also require proof that you had coverage recently. The four broad categories are:

  • Losing health coverage: leaving a job, ageing off a parent's plan at 26, or losing Medicaid or CHIP eligibility.
  • A change in your household: marriage, divorce, a birth, an adoption, or a death in the family.
  • A change in where you live: moving to a new county or ZIP code, moving to Pennsylvania, or a student moving to or from school.
  • Other circumstances: membership in a federally recognized tribe, for example, which allows enrollment year-round.

Medicare special enrollment periods

Medicare has its own set, triggered by circumstances rather than by the calendar. Common ones include:

  • Leaving employer or union coverage you had after turning 65.
  • Moving out of your plan's service area, or moving back to the United States from abroad.
  • Your plan leaving the Medicare program or changing its contract.
  • Qualifying for Medicaid or for Extra Help with drug costs.
  • Entering, living in, or leaving a nursing home or other institution.
Before the window opens

Four things worth doing early

None of this requires a broker. Doing it before enrollment opens makes any conversation a great deal shorter, whether that conversation is with us, with Pennie, or with 1-800-MEDICARE.

Estimate next year's household income

Pennie eligibility for financial help is based on your projected income for the coverage year, not last year's. Self-employed and variable income makes this genuinely hard, and getting it wrong is reconciled on your tax return.

Read the notice your current plan sent you

If you are on Medicare, the Annual Notice of Change arrives each fall and lists exactly what is changing about your plan next year. If you are on a Pennie plan, look for the renewal notice. Most people never open them.

List your doctors and your prescriptions

Names and dosages, not just 'my blood pressure pill'. Networks and drug lists change every year, including on plans you have kept for a decade.

Note anything changing in your household

A marriage, a baby, a child turning 26, a move, a retirement, or someone gaining coverage elsewhere all change what you should be looking at.

Fact-check us

Where these dates come from

We are an interested party. These are not. Read them, and hold this page to them.

Official sources for every date above

Pennie and Medicare publish their own calendars. If anything here disagrees with them, they are right and we are out of date.

Not sure which window is yours? That is a short conversation.

We will walk through which calendar applies to you, what is changing about the coverage you already have, and what you would need to have ready. There is no charge for it. Brokers are paid by the insurance carrier, never by you.

Book a free consultationCall 610-600-6906