Marylanders have until Jan. 15 to sign up for Affordable Care Act health plans on the Maryland Health Connection website.

Those who sign up between Jan. 1 and Jan. 15 will have their plans start on Feb. 1.

Anyone who signed up before Jan. 1 had their new plan start at the new year.

Residents can choose between Carefirst, UnitedHealthCare, Kaiser Permanente and Wellpoint as their insurance carriers.

Marylanders will see ACA premiums go up by an average of 13.4% this year because of the Republican budget plan, which eliminated the ACA premium tax credit.

Insurers claim that they need to increase premium rates because less people will be able to buy coverage without the credits.

About 500,000 Marylanders get their plans from the ACA marketplace.

With the loss of the credits, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that “the number of uninsured people will rise by 2.2 million in 2026, by 3.7 million in 2027, and by 3.8 million, on average, in each year over the 2026–2034 period.”

“Under this new federal administration, Washington has shirked its duty to help middle-class Americans and families in poverty get affordable health care,” said Governor Wes Moore. “Congress should act without delay to avoid these federal tax credits being ripped away from hardworking families. No single state can fill the gap left by the federal government. But in Maryland, we will continue to do everything in our power to keep costs low for families and preserve access to affordable care.”

However, state and federal officials have not called on insurance companies to pick up any of the slack.

Carefirst BlueCross BlueShield, the largest provider, reported a $240 million profit in 2024 when the tax credits were in effect. According to ProPublica, Carefirst CEO Brian Pieninck was paid about $4.4 million in compensation last year.

UnitedHealthCare notched $14.4 billion in profits in 2024, its CEO Stephen Hemsley brings in $1 million a year, plus $60 million in non-qualified stock options.