Oregon is leaving HealthCare.gov. Here is what Explore Health means for you.

If you buy your own health insurance in Oregon, the place you shop is changing this year. Oregon is leaving HealthCare.gov and running its own marketplace, called Explore Health. It starts with this open enrollment, for the 2027 plan year.

Here is what I know so far, and what I do not know yet.

What is changing

Explore Health is Oregon's new health insurance marketplace. Shopping opens November 1, 2026, for coverage that starts in January 2027. HealthCare.gov is no longer where Oregonians shop for a marketplace plan.

The public site is explorehealthor.gov. It sends you to the state's Explore Health page.

Who it affects

This change is about the individual marketplace. If you buy your own plan or a family plan through the marketplace, it affects you. That includes anyone who used my HealthSherpa link in the past.

If you already have marketplace coverage

The state says that if you have marketplace coverage in Oregon in 2026, your information will be migrated from HealthCare.gov to the Explore Health platform. You should have received information in early October explaining how to activate your account on the new state-run platform.

If you never got those instructions, treat that as a reason to call. Do not wait until December to find out your account is not set up.

The dates

Open enrollment for 2027 coverage runs from November 1, 2026 through January 15, 2027. Enrollments completed by December 31, 2026 will have coverage effective on January 1, 2027.

If you want coverage to start on January 1, aim to finish well before the end of December.

Which carriers are in

For 2027, four insurers are offering marketplace plans in Oregon:

• BridgeSpan Health Company, statewide.
• Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest, in 11 counties.
• Moda Health Plan, in all but 8 counties.
• Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, statewide.

Providence and PacificSource will no longer offer marketplace plans after the end of 2026. If one of them is your carrier, you will need a new plan, and I wrote up what that means in your carrier is leaving Oregon, here is what happens next.

What this means for working with me

For years I sent clients to HealthSherpa to enroll. HealthSherpa works with the federal marketplace, so it no longer applies to Oregon. I am still working out how I can assist clients inside Explore Health.

I do not have an answer on that yet, and I would rather tell you so than guess. Until I do, the way to work with me is to call or use the contact page.

What does not change

Your premium tax credit is still based on your household income.

Comparing plans still comes down to the same things: whether your doctors and hospital are in the network, whether your prescriptions are covered, and the out-of-pocket maximum, not just the monthly premium. I go through each of those in your renewal letter came, here is what to compare.

And I still do the comparison with you. There is no fee to work with me.

Reach me

Call me at (971) 264-9008 or send a message through the contact page. If you have a notice from your carrier, a renewal letter, or a question about your Explore Health account, send it along and I will help you sort out what it means.