Sunday is deadline for Affordable Care Act insurance enrollment for coverage to start Jan. 1

People who want to sign up for health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act in 2025 must do so by the end of the day Sunday, Dec. 15, if they want coverage to start on New Year’s Day. “For accidents or injuries or when illness strikes, the last thing that anyone should have to worry about is how they’re going to pay for that, or whether they’re going to fall into some sort of medical debt,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley during an online press conference Friday to draw attention to the Sunday deadline.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) imposed new consumer protection provisions for health insurance plans, among them a requirement that people cannot be denied coverage or charged higher premiums because of their personal health history.

The act also led to the creation of a federal health care marketplace Healthcare.gov, where people can purchase individual health insurance plans if they don’t have health coverage through an employer or some other group source, including Medicaid or Medicare. Healthcare.gov provides information about the plans available in a person’s geographic area.

The ACA open enrollment period for individual plans started Nov. 1. Whether people are enrolling for the first time — because they’ve lost their coverage through work, for example — or renewing their insurance after enrolling previously in 2023 or before, “you should take advantage of this time right now,” said Joe Zepecki of Protect Our Care, a national campaign to support and strengthen the ACA. Protect Our Care organized Friday’s news conference.

People who sign up for a plan at Healthcare.gov must do so by Sunday, Dec. 15, to get coverage that starts Jan. 1.  For people who enroll after Sunday, 2025 coverage won’t start until Feb. 1. The final deadline for enrolling is Jan. 15.