Some Florida customers who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace are being automatically enrolled in replacement plans for 2027 without realizing it. With open enrollment beginning Nov. 1, a Florida health advocate is urging customers to review their options and check coverage for their doctors and medications.
Melissa Smith, of West Palm Beach, knew she would need to find a new plan because her current insurer was leaving the program at the end of the year. She learned she had been automatically enrolled in another plan when a different insurance company began contacting her.
“All of a sudden I started getting phone calls, text messages, and emails from another health insurance company saying congrats, you're enrolled, and then getting a bill from them,” Smith said. She later determined that her doctor was outside the new plan's network and said she did not want that plan.
Scott Darius of Florida Voices for Health said the marketplace uses automatic re-enrollment for existing customers. “If your plan has changed or disappeared, the marketplace will often put you in a plan that they deem to be similar,” he said.
Darius said most plans have already posted their 2027 rates, with rates overall up about 10%. He recommends starting the enrollment process by finding someone trustworthy to help review the choices. Enrollment can be completed at healthcare.gov.
Before choosing a plan, Darius advises customers to make a list of priorities, including doctors they want to keep seeing and medications they need covered. He recommends working with a trusted source to compare the options against that list.