Illinois left healthcare.gov, extended its January deadline, and banned short-term plans outright. Most guides you'll find are wrong on all three.
| 2026 rate change | About 30% before subsidies |
|---|---|
| Where you enroll | Get Covered Illinois — not healthcare.gov |
| Deadline for Jan 1 coverage | December 31 — later than most states |
| Medicaid | Expanded, to 138% of the poverty level |
| Short-term plans | Prohibited statewide since January 1, 2025 |
Figures reflect 2026 plan year filings and state rules. If you're making a decision on any of these, ask me to confirm the current position for your county.
Two things happened at once, and together they make Illinois genuinely different from its neighbors.
First, Illinois became a full state-based marketplace for plan year 2026. Enrollment moved from healthcare.gov to Get Covered Illinois at getcovered.illinois.gov. The transition is recent enough that a lot of published guidance — including pages still ranking well in search — still tells Illinois residents to use the federal site. That's no longer where you go.
Running its own marketplace also lets Illinois set its own calendar, and it used that. Where most states cut off January 1 coverage on December 15, Illinois extended it to December 31, with a January 15 close for coverage starting February 1. If you've been putting this off, you have more room here than almost anywhere else.
Second, rates rose roughly 30% before subsidies for 2026, driven by the expiration of the enhanced federal premium tax credits along with underlying medical costs.
Under Public Act 103-0649, short-term limited-duration plans have been prohibited in Illinois since January 1, 2025. They are not sold here at all.
That matters if you're between jobs or waiting on a start date, because the bridge option available in most states simply doesn't exist in Illinois. Your realistic paths are a Marketplace plan through a special enrollment period, COBRA, or a spouse's plan — and knowing that up front saves you two weeks of looking for something that isn't there.
For 2026, Marketplace premium tax credits end above $62,600 for one person and $128,600 for a household of four. Below that line the subsidy is usually worth more than anything else available, and I'll tell you so. Above it, you're paying Illinois' full post-increase premium and it's worth looking at everything.
Illinois also expanded Medicaid, so adults under 138% of the poverty level have a real path here rather than a coverage gap.
Nothing. Brokers are paid a commission by the carrier, and it's built into the premium whether you use one or not — enroll direct and the carrier simply keeps it. The plan price is identical either way. There's a fuller explanation, along with my NPN, on the licensing page.
No. Illinois became a full state-based marketplace for plan year 2026. Enrollment now runs through Get Covered Illinois at getcovered.illinois.gov rather than healthcare.gov. Much published guidance is out of date on this because the transition is recent.
No. Under Public Act 103-0649, short-term limited-duration plans have been prohibited in Illinois since January 1, 2025 and are not sold in the state. Illinois residents between jobs generally choose between a Marketplace plan through a special enrollment period, COBRA, or a spouse's plan.
Illinois extended its deadline to December 31 for coverage beginning January 1, later than the December 15 cutoff used in most states. Enrolling between January 1 and January 15 generally means coverage starting February 1.
My National Producer Number is 21388659. You can confirm it through the Illinois Department of Insurance or the National Insurance Producer Registry. I'd encourage it — you should never take a broker's word for their own credentials.
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