What Are The State Health Insurance Marketplaces? Affordable Care Act In Each State

The Affordable Care Act’s Federal Marketplace or your local state health insurance marketplace can be a useful resource when looking for health insurance. Federal and state marketplaces offer cost-saving subsidies and require certain health services as mandatory coverage for all ACA plans. Marketplace plans provide these benefits to make health insurance more affordable and reliable for Americans.

However, some states have health insurance marketplaces separate from the Federal Marketplace. Ensure you enroll in a plan from your state’s exchange.

Check below for more information about each state and to see if yours has a health insurance marketplace. If you’d like to learn more about your Affordable Care Act health insurance choices or check your eligibility, Health Care Plan Quotes is here to help. Call us at (855) 968-5736 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET and our expert agents would be happy to review your ACA healthcare options. Check our free online quoting tool if you would like to see ACA health coverage estimates.

What Is A State Health Insurance Marketplace?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted in 2014 to standardize American health insurance practices, make health coverage more reliable, and provide better healthcare access to Americans. As of 2024 open enrollment, over 21 million Americans are enrolled in ACA plans.

A major ACA goal was to simplify the health insurance enrollment process. The ACA addressed this aim by creating the Federal Marketplace, an internet platform that hosts health insurance plans and provides enrollment services.

Since then, 19 states and the District of Columbia have created marketplace platforms to offer health insurance options more tailored toward their population.

States with health insurance marketplaces may have different health plan eligibility requirements from federal ones. State health insurance marketplace open enrollment periods may vary from the standard federal dates of Nov. 1 – Jan. 15.

In addition to federal subsidies, some states may offer premium rate subsidies or cost-sharing reductions.

Call Health Care Plan Quotes and we can help you understand your coverage and discount options.

Federal & State Health Insurance Marketplace Essential Health Benefits

The ACA requires all Federal Marketplace and state health insurance marketplace plans to provide ten coverage options known as the ACA essential health benefits. They include:

Emergency services
Outpatient care
Hospitalization
Maternity and newborn care
Mental health and substance use disorder services
Prescription drugs
Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices
Laboratory services
Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management
Pediatric services, including oral and vision services

Essential health benefits are the minimum requirements for all marketplace plans on the Federal Marketplace and state health insurance marketplaces. Some states expand this coverage and may offer dental and vision supplemental insurance.

What Is Open Enrollment?

Open enrollment is the main time to sign up for an ACA health insurance plan. The Federal Marketplace and most states have the same open enrollment periods:

November 1 through December 15 for coverage starting January 1 the following year
December 16 through January 15 for coverage starting February 1 of the following year

Some states have open enrollment periods that differ from this schedule; check below to see if your state has a different open enrollment period for their health insurance marketplace.

You can also sign up for a marketplace plan outside the open enrollment period if you qualify for a special enrollment period. Two common special enrollment periods are when moving to a new state with a state health insurance marketplace or after losing a job. Most special enrollment periods last for 60 days. Check your state’s marketplace plan enrollment rules to see if you qualify for special enrollment.

What States Have A Health Insurance Marketplace?

As of 2025 open enrollment, 19 states and the District of Columbia have a state health insurance marketplace.

As noted before, some states have different open enrollment dates. States with an open enrollment period different from the standard federal open enrollment period will have those dates listed below. Those with no listed dates follow the standard Federal open enrollment period dates:

Nov. 1 though Dec. 15 for coverage starting Jan. 1 the following year
Dec. 16 through Jan. 15 for coverage starting Feb. 1 the following year

The states listed below have state health insurance marketplaces:

State	Marketplace Name & Link	Open Enrollment Period
California	Covered California	Nov. 1 – Jan. 31
Colorado	Connect for Health Colorado	Federal
Connecticut	Access Health CT	Federal
District of Columbia	DC Health Link	Federal
Georgia	Georgia Access	Nov. 1 – Jan. 16
Idaho	Your Health Idaho	Oct. 15 – Dec. 15
Kentucky	Kynect	Nov. 1 – Jan. 16
Maine	CoverMe	Nov. 1 – Jan. 16
Maryland	Maryland Health Connection	Federal
Massachusetts	Health Connector	Nov. 1 – Jan. 23
Minnesota	MNsure	Federal
Nevada	Nevada Health Link	Federal
New Jersey	Get Covered NJ	Nov. 1 – Jan. 31
New Mexico	beWellNM	Federal
New York	New York State of Health	Nov. 1 – Jan. 31
Pennsylvania	Pennie	Federal
Rhode Island	HealthSourceRI	Nov. 1 – Jan. 31
Vermont	Vermont Health Connect	Federal
Virginia	Virginia’s Insurance Marketplace	Nov. 1 – Jan. 16
Washington	Washington HealthPlanFinder	Federal

Illinois is opening a state health insurance marketplace for the 2026 open enrollment period.

Conclusion

Federal or state health insurance marketplace plans can be a good place to start when looking for affordable health insurance. ACA requirements and subsidies make these plans popular choices for Americans. Just ensure you are searching for health care coverage in the right place, as many states have marketplaces.

If you need help searching, Health Care Plan Quotes is only a call away. Call us at (855) 968-5736 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET and our expert agents can assist you with finding an ACA health insurance plan that fits your needs. Check our free online quoting tool for health insurance estimates.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Marketplace open enrollment?

State health insurance marketplace open enrollments vary, but most states follow federal open enrollment dates:

Nov. 1 – Dec. 15 for coverage starting Jan. 1 the following year
Dec. 16 – Jan. 15 for coverage starting Feb. 1 the following year

Does every state have a health insurance marketplace?

Though most states use the Federal Marketplace, as of open enrollment for 2025, 19 states and the District of Columbia run their own state health insurance marketplaces.