How to renew your health plan (and why leaving it on autopilot is a bad idea)

By Omar Mendoza, licensed insurance agent · August 28, 2026 · 6 min read

If you already have a Marketplace plan and do nothing, you'll still be covered in January. That sounds convenient, which is why plenty of people leave it alone. The problem is that automatic renewal is designed so you don't end up uninsured, not so you pay what you actually should. Son cosas muy distintas.

What happens if you do nothing

The Marketplace re-enrolls you in your plan, or the closest one if yours disappeared, and recalculates your subsidy with the information it had from last year. That's where the three problems are:

Your income changed and they don't know. If you earn more and don't report it, you're collecting too much subsidy and you'll have to pay it back at tax time. And since tax year 2026 there is no cap on what they can claw back.
Your plan changed without much warning. Insurers adjust prices, deductibles and networks every year. The plan you renew may not be the one you signed up for.
The benchmark plan moved. Your subsidy is calculated from the second-cheapest Silver plan in your area. If that plan changed, your help changes even if your income is identical. It's why people who touched nothing see a different monthly payment in January.

The case that hurts me most to see: someone who's auto-renewed for three years, paying $40 a month more than necessary, because there's a better plan in their area they never looked at. Three years is over a thousand dollars.

What to do, and when

The window runs from 1 de noviembre al 15 de diciembre. That day is the real deadline: anything after it starts February 1, not January 1.

Log into your account and update your income. The estimate for 2027, not what you declared last year. This is the most important part of all this.

Actualiza el hogar. A birth, a marriage, a divorce, a child who's no longer a dependent: all of that changes your subsidy.

Read the notice from your insurer. It arrives in October or November and says what's changing in your plan. Almost nobody opens it; the increase is in there.

Compara antes de confirmar. Even if you end up on the same plan, look at the alternatives. Ten minutes.

Check doctors and medications. Networks change every year. Your doctor being in network in 2026 doesn't mean they still are in 2027.

The change coming in 2028

Esto conviene tenerlo en el radar desde ya: starting with plan year 2028, automatic renewal ends. Everyone will have to return to the Marketplace each year to verify their income, household and situation, and pick a plan again, even if nothing at all has changed.

Anyone who doesn't will lose coverage. It isn't this year, but if you're in the habit of not touching anything, it's worth changing that now.

If you were charged $5 extra last year

For 2026 coverage there was a temporary measure: anyone auto-renewed into a $0 plan had $5 deducted from their subsidy, and it was removed as soon as you logged in to confirm your details. It was temporary and ends after 2026. If it happened to you, now you know where it came from.

Shall I review your renewal with you?

In fifteen minutes I'll check whether your plan is still the right one, whether your subsidy is calculated correctly and whether your doctors are still in network. If the one you have is the best, I'll tell you and we change nothing.

Review my renewal Or take the 3-question quiz ›

Keep reading

How to calculate your incomeThe figure you absolutely must update. How much does Obamacare cost?Why your price changes even when you don't. I enrolled — now what?What to do after you sign up.

Sources

HealthCare.gov — annual renewal process and dates for 2027 coverage.
Public Law 119-21 (2025) — end of automatic reenrollment starting with plan year 2028.
CMS — temporary $5 measure on automatic reenrollment for plan year 2026.

Please note: general insurance information, not legal or tax advice. Always confirm your policy details with your insurer or your state's marketplace.