Medicare and ACA Health Plan Enrollment: What's Happening?

What You Need to Know

CMS announced late last week that roughly 3000 employees who had been furloughed due to the government shutdown would be called back to work on October 27th to help support Medicare and ACA marketplace enrollment. This represents nearly 50% of CMS's total workforce.

Medicare's annual enrollment period began on October 15th ends on December 7th. Enrollment in the ACA marketplace begins on November 1st and ends on January 15th.

What This Means for You

Your patients who receive health benefits through either Medicare or the ACA Marketplace may have questions about whether they can enroll or re-enroll for healthcare as a result of the government shutdown. If they ask you, advise them that the enrollment processes for both programs remain unchanged and encourage them to take the necessary steps to secure health coverage for 2026.

Your patients may also ask you about whether their premiums are likely to increase next year, as there has been significant reporting on the potential doubling of ACA marketplace premiums if Congress does not extend the COVID-era tax subsidies. As the shutdown has dragged on, the issue of ACA tax subsidies has become an increasingly prominent issue in potential negotiations between Democrats and Republicans in Congress. While there is some discussion of extending these subsidies - at least for lower-income marketplace enrollees - it is not possible to accurately predict how this will play out.

We will continue to closely monitor healthcare issues affected by the government shutdown and will provide updates as new information becomes available.