ACA Open Enrollment 2027: Dates and a Call Buying Playbook for Agencies

Open Enrollment is when most consumers can buy or change Marketplace health coverage without a qualifying life event. For agencies buying under-65 health calls, it is the season that sets the year. This playbook covers the dates and how to run a call campaign through them.

Key Dates for 2027 Coverage

State-based marketplaces can run longer or shorter windows. Several end later in January, and at least one ends December 15. Build your state list around the deadlines that apply to each state.

What Changed in Court

The 2025 Marketplace Integrity and Affordability rule would have required every marketplace, starting with the 2027 plan year, to end Open Enrollment no later than December 31. In City of Columbus v. Kennedy, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland vacated that provision on June 12, 2026. The government filed notice of appeal to the Fourth Circuit in July 2026.

For agencies, the practical point is simple: keep watching for updates, and do not assume the window is the same in every state.

A Critical 2027 Rule: Broker Registration Moratorium

CMS introduced a temporary registration moratorium effective September 22, 2026 for certain agents and brokers who did not have Plan Year 2026 agreements with the Federally-facilitated Exchanges. Those affected generally cannot complete new Plan Year 2027 federal Exchange registration during the moratorium, which is scheduled to end February 1, 2027 unless CMS changes it. This is not a blanket ban on existing registered agents, and the rule does not apply to agents registering directly with state-based exchanges that operate their own platforms.

How Call Demand Moves Through the Season

Enrollment shopping often clusters near the start of the season and ahead of deadlines, particularly the December 15 cutoff for January 1 coverage. That is a planning hypothesis, not a forecast of Oracle Leads inventory or pricing. Monitor actual answered-call volume, billable-call price, close rate and cost per enrollment by state and time block before increasing bids.

The Playbook

Before November 1

1. Confirm licenses and carrier appointments for every state on your campaign.
2. Set campaign hours to the hours you can answer live, not the hours you wish you could.
3. Fund your wallet and set daily and total budgets for the first two weeks.
4. Point the receiving number at a line that rings agents, not voicemail.

During the First Weeks

1. Watch answer rate daily. Unanswered calls do not bill, but they also do not sell.
2. Compare close rate by state and hour after a few dozen billable calls.
3. Shift budget toward the states and hours with the lowest cost per sale.

Into the December 15 Deadline

1. Add agent hours on the days leading into the deadline.
2. Raise daily budgets on proven segments, not across the board.
3. Keep the maximum bid inside your break-even. See How to Calculate Cost per Acquisition.

December 16 Through Mid-January

1. Tell callers their coverage start date. In HealthCare.gov states it is February 1 for plans picked now.
2. Trim states whose exchanges have already closed.
3. Plan for special enrollment after the window: consumers with qualifying life events can still enroll.

The Five Numbers to Check Every Day

1. Calls offered and answered. If agents are missing calls, fix staffing and routing before raising bids.
2. Billable calls and average amount charged. Separate accepted conversations from calls that did not meet the billing threshold.
3. Policies submitted and verified. Measure outcomes consistently instead of relying on conversations that merely sounded promising.
4. Cost per acquisition by state and shift. Divide spend by completed enrollments; compare against your economics, not a competing agency's headline bid.
5. Remaining budget and available agent hours. Reduce caps when licensed capacity disappears and expand only where results support it.

Build your team coverage first, then set up a live call campaign. Learn exactly what makes a call billable before you judge results.

Budget Guardrails

On Oracle Leads, daily and total budgets limit campaign spend. Your maximum bid multiplied by your daily billable-call cap gives a conservative upper bound before a lower budget cap is applied. A bid is not a guarantee of traffic and a call cap is not a volume commitment.

What Should an ACA Lead-Buying Budget Return?

Use cost per enrollment, not just price per call. For a simple illustration, a $60 billable call at a 15% close rate works out to $400 in call spend per completed enrollment ($60 divided by 0.15). That is not a claimed Oracle Leads result or a profit forecast. Commissions, retention, agent payroll, chargebacks and other costs still determine whether the campaign is profitable.

Do not raise bids because a deadline is approaching. Raise them only if the calls that actually convert still fit your economics. See the full insurance cost-per-acquisition guide and live call pricing guide.

Ready for the season? Start a health call campaign or see pricing.