Updated Sept. 19, 2025

Federal Changes to Your Health Insurance

New federal rule changes may affect your health insurance through Affordable Care Act marketplaces like Covered California. These could increase costs and create additional steps to enroll. We’ll keep you updated, but here’s what you can do now.

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Californians deserve health care that works.

We don’t answer to stakeholders — we answer to you. In the coming years, we promise to keep fighting to make your health insurance affordable and easy to access.

What’s Changing

The federal government has acted to make these changes to health insurance starting this year and beyond. The year they are set to take effect and their possible impacts are described below.

Open Enrollment

Effective Date: 2027
  • Open enrollment for plan year 2026 will be from Nov. 1, 2025, to Jan. 31, 2026, as it has been in previous years.
  • It’s possible that the federal government will shorten open enrollment for plan year 2027, however — from Nov. 1, 2026, to Dec. 31, 2026.
  • Current enrollees will be automatically re-enrolled in 2026 with the health plan you had in 2025, as long as your plan is still available and you are still eligible.

Possible Premium Increases

Effective Date: 2026
  • Financial help will still be available next year, but many enrollees could receive less than they did before.
  • In 2021, the federal government increased financial help for some people through Enhanced Premium Tax Credits. Unless Congress acts, the increased help will end on Dec. 31, 2025.

Medi-Cal

Effective Date: 2026

DACA and Immigration

Effective Date: 2025
  • Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients are no longer eligible for health or dental insurance. The federal government ended their insurance on Aug. 31.
Effective Date: 2027
  • In 2027, only certain immigrant groups will be eligible for financial help to help pay for their insurance: lawful permanent residents (green card holders), Cuban and Haitian entrants and Compact of Free Association (COFA) migrants.

Low-Income Households

Effective Date: 2025
  • The federal government ended the special-enrollment period for people with low incomes (individuals earning up to $22,590 per year or a family of four earning up to $46,800 per year).
  • These individuals will have to enroll during open enrollment, or through special enrollment if they experience certain life changes.

Financial Help and Pre-Enrollment Verification

Effective Date: 2025
  • Starting in September 2025, the automatic 60-day extension to fix income inconsistencies will no longer be available.
  • People will have the standard 95 days to resolve it instead.
  • People who need more time can call Covered California.
Effective Date: 2027
  • Some people end up receiving too much financial help to lower their monthly premiums because their household income is listed incorrectly on their application. While filing 2026 federal taxes in 2027, people who receive too much financial help will now have to pay back the full amount they owe.
  • Before, the amount they had to pay back was capped based on their incomes.
  • Remember to update your account whenever your income changes. It’s the best way to make sure you get the correct amount of financial help.
Effective Date: 2028
  • In 2028, you will need to prove that you qualify for financial help before receiving it. Unlike before, financial help won’t be given during the time it takes to fix any data issues (in most cases).
  • In 2028, people who don’t confirm or update their information for the next year will no longer be automatically re-enrolled in health insurance with financial help.

Health Savings Accounts

Effective Date: 2026
  • In 2026, Bronze and minimum coverage (catastrophic) plans through Covered California will count as high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) that let you contribute to a Health Savings Account (HSA).
  • Before, some of these plans didn’t qualify because of how they were designed.
  • In 2026, you can use money from your HSA to pay for direct primary care fees, which is a monthly membership fee that lets you get a range of primary care services. Individuals can use up to $150 a month and families can use up to $300 a month.
  • However, free preventive care is available to all Covered California enrollees and covers most screenings and vaccinations.

Gender-Affirming Care

Effective Date: 2025
  • Health insurance companies in California still must provide gender-affirming care because of state rules that protect against discrimination.

Additional Resources

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Health Care Changes in the 2025 Budget Bill
A side-by-side comparison of how the House and Senate 2025 budget reconciliation law affect health care, compared to each other and to prior law.
New Law Brings Health Care Changes
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) makes major changes to U.S. health care. Learn about five key changes that affect Medicaid enrollees, Marketplace consumers, and low-income immigrants.