Open Enrollment Data Show as Families Contend with Rising Health Insurance Costs, Maryland Premium Assistance Program Helps Ensure Access to Coverage
ANNAPOLIS, MD —The Maryland Health Benefit Exchange today announced enrollment data for the most recent open enrollment period, from Nov. 1, 2025 through Jan. 15, 2026. Though initial numbers show a very slight increase in total enrollment, data also show that for Maryland’s more than 250,000 individual marketplace enrollees, health insurance is becoming harder to afford as consumers are “buying down” in favor of less expensive coverage.
“Maryland families are currently balancing two competing values: protection versus price. At a moment when families are paying more for less health care coverage, our state will continue to act with urgency—especially when the Trump-Vance Administration refuses to,” said Gov. Wes Moore. “No state can fully replace the role of the federal government when it abandons its responsibilities. But in Maryland, our Administration will continue to stand in the gap, protect our people, and fight to drive down the cost of quality health care for working families.”
Data from the most recent open enrollment period show:
- 255,612 individuals enrolled, up only 3% from last year—open enrollment for 2024-2025 saw an increase of 16%;
- Black consumer enrollment grew 4%; Hispanic consumer enrollment grew 2%;
- By comparison, Healthcare.gov, the federally facilitated marketplace, saw a 9.2% decline in enrollment, according to data from CMS.gov;
- Overall, new enrollments were down 12%;
- Dental plan enrollments rose 9%;
- Enrollment in vision plans increased by 42%;
- Enrollments by young adults aged 18-37 grew 7% from last year; more than 74% of them were eligible for a subsidy that Maryland created for young adults in 2022 to encourage their enrollment in health insurance;
- 5,743 people who formerly had a gold plan chose a bronze plan