Sarah Bowden

Preliminary data from December show that enrollment is down a bit compared to last December, but overall, it is higher than expected.

That could change over the course of this year.

Cynthia Cox is a researcher at the health policy think tank KFF.

She says it's kind of like the difference between putting groceries in your shopping cart and actually purchasing those groceries.

So you don't actually own those groceries until you've paid for them.

The same thing with health insurance.

You can sign up, you can pick a plan.

But until you pay for it, it's not your health plan.

In most states, the final deadline to sign up for a plan for 2026 is January 15th.

For NPR News, I'm Sarah Bowden.

Preliminary data from December show that enrollment is down a bit compared to last December, but overall it is higher than expected.

That could change over the course of this year.

Cynthia Cox is a researcher at the health policy think tank KFF.

She says it's kind of like the difference between putting groceries in your shopping cart and actually purchasing those groceries.

So you don't actually own those groceries until you've paid for them.

The same thing with health insurance.

Like you can sign up, you can pick a plan.

But until you pay for it, it's not your health plan.

In most states, the final deadline to sign up for a plan for 2026 is January 15th.

For NPR News, I'm Sarah Bowden.