Virginians can now start looking for 2027 health insurance plans — including up to 200,000 people who could get the state’s help to lower their premium costs.
The open enrollment period for plans in Virginia’s Insurance Marketplace started on Sunday and runs through Jan. 29, 2027. Residents who are unemployed, self-employed or don’t get health insurance through their jobs can shop for coverage plans through the exchange.
“This is the best time of year for Virginians to access and make changes to their health coverage for the coming year,” Keven Patchett, executive director of Virginia’s Health Insurance Marketplace and Health Benefit Exchange, said in a phone interview.
In response to the end of federal assistance, the latest state budget includes $150 million for the new Virginia Premium Savings program to provide eligible residents with state-funded subsidies in 2027.
Patchett said state officials estimate that as many as 200,000 Virginians will be eligible, based on the marketplace’s current enrollment and the number of people who lost coverage in 2026 — which the state has estimated at nearly 100,000.
According to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s office, more than 50,000 Virginians who use the program could qualify for a $0 monthly premium; that doesn’t include deductibles or copays.
The program was created to lower eligible Virginians’ premiums by as much as 70%, but Spanberger’s administration said that estimates show some will see their premiums drop by more than 90%.
Depending on a household’s size and income, state officials say, consumers using the program can save between $65 and $90 per person per month.
To be eligible for the discounts, Virginians need to be qualified to buy a plan through the state marketplace. And their household income must be between 138% and 250% of the federal poverty level, which amounts to $22,025 and $39,900 for an individual or $45,540 and $82,500 for a family of four.
People’s eligibility for the program will be decided when they enroll for coverage through the marketplace, and the savings will be automatically applied to people’s monthly premium costs.
According to budget language for the program, the state’s exchange can increase or decrease the monthly premium amounts “as enrollment and fund balances change to maximize the use of the Fund consistent with the objective of this program.”
The state program comes as premium costs through Virginia’s marketplace, without any subsidies, are estimated to jump by an average of nearly 16% in 2027, per HealthInsurance.org.
In 2021, enhanced premium tax credits were included in the federal American Rescue Plan Act on top of other subsidies established under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.
The enhanced tax credits were then extended until the end of 2025 by the Inflation Reduction Act, giving people more financial assistance on their premium costs.
The credits capped how much certain enrollees had to pay in premiums, based on a percentage of their annual income.
After Congress didn’t extend the enhanced premium tax credits, healthcare policy experts and analysts warned that millions of people would opt-out of coverage and go uninsured in 2026.
Spanberger touted the new state-funded program at a Norfolk church on Oct. 21, while also blaming President Donald Trump and other Republicans who opposed continuing the ACA tax credits to help reduce premiums.
“These credits had been extended for years and years because they work,” she said. “But last year, the president and his allies in Congress made the decision to let those credits expire — and people felt it.”
The governor cited rising monthly premiums as the main reason behind the drop in enrollees to Virginia’s marketplace in 2026 — and Patchett agreed.
“I think the expiration of those enhanced premium tax credits were the primary driving factor for the overall enrollment loss that we’ve seen this year,” he told VPM News.
Patchett said people’s net premiums, or what they pay after getting federal financial assistance, went up an average of 75% in 2026.
“And that resulted in health insurance just being unaffordable for more Virginians,” he said.
While the state-level subsidies will make a significant impact for many, Patchett said it won’t fully replace the ACA credits that expired.
“We hope it is going to bring a large number of those Virginians who had to leave because they couldn’t afford their health insurance back into the marketplace,” he said.
Patchett said there will be gaps because the enhanced federal tax credits covered more people than the state’s program can.
“The Virginia Premium Savings Program, unfortunately, only covers a portion of those individuals, and I think that for the General Assembly and the governor’s office, it was a matter of available funding,” Patchett said. “It’s very difficult for states to be able, states in general, as well as the commonwealth, to be able to cover the gap left by cuts in federal spending.”
Open enrollment on the Virginia Insurance Marketplace is open from Nov. 1, 2026 – Jan. 29, 2027.
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