Save these dates – CCHCC is here to help!

September 14, 2026

Medicare and Get Covered Illinois Marketplace Open Enrollment Periods are right around the corner! Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) is here to help you with Open Enrollment!

CCHCC staff are the most experienced enrollment counselors in Champaign County for Medicare, ACA plans through the Get Covered Illinois Marketplace, and Medicaid insurance plans. Our services are provided for free to community members. With your support, CCHCC can provide free, vital direct services to keep our community covered.

Health insurance enrollment – We’ve got you covered! Health insurance enrollment work requires increasingly specialized knowledge and skills – whether for Medicare, or for the ACA plans offered through the Get Covered Illinois marketplace, and Medicaid. Our federally-certified and state accredited Navigator staff are the most experienced enrollment counselors in our community. This means that anyone – young or old or in between; employed or unemployed; retired; low-income, middle-income, high income, or no income; currently insured or uninsured – can contact CCHCC and we will help them figure out what coverage is available to them, and we will help them get covered!

Medicare Open Enrollment – from October 15 through December 7. If you would like to change your Medicare Advantage plan or Part D prescription drug plan, you will have the opportunity to change for the 2027 plan year, starting October 15, until December 7, 2026. CCHCC staff can help you compare plans and complete those enrollments. Even if you already like your plan, it is important to review it carefully during Open Enrollment to make sure it will remain the same for the following year and will continue to cover your prescriptions and providers.

Will you be enrolling in Medicare coverage for the first time? If so, CCHCC can help! Many people who are new to Medicare get overwhelmed by the process of signing up to begin Medicare coverage. CCHCC’s experienced staff can help you learn about Medicare and help you choose the kind of coverage that best meets your needs.

Programs to make Medicare coverage more affordable. In addition to helping people sign up for Medicare coverage, CCHCC can also help evaluate each client for their eligibility for programs to help make Medicare coverage more affordable. Both the Medicare Savings Program and the Medicare Extra Help Program are underutilized, as most people who qualify for these programs do not even know about them. CCHCC can help screen individuals for eligibility for these programs, and help with the applications.

Affordable Care Act’s marketplace Open Enrollment – November 1, 2026 through January 15, 2027. The State of Illinois is now directly operating its own ACA marketplace, called Get Covered Illinois (GCI) at getcovered.illinois.gov. The Open Enrollment period for Get Covered Illinois is from November 1, 2026 through January 15, 2027 for people who are seeking an individual health insurance plan – usually individuals who do not have coverage through their employer – and for those who need to renew their Marketplace plan.

Even if you have a Get Covered Illinois marketplace plan that you like, CCHCC encourages you to review the plan for the coming year, to make sure it continues to work for you. We also encourage you to update your information on the Get Covered Illinois Marketplace, since income guidelines for subsidies, which make the plans more affordable, change from year to year.

Medicaid enrollment is open year-round. Unlike Medicare and the ACA’s Marketplace, there is no open enrollment period for Medicaid coverage. Medicaid is open year-round, so people can apply for Medicaid at any time in the year. CCHCC helps community members with these applications on a year-round basis. And if you are unsure whether you qualify for Medicaid, or a Marketplace plan with a subsidy, CCHCC can help you sort it out!

Please save these dates for upcoming Open Enrollment Meetings:

• Medicare Open Enrollment Meeting – Wednesday, October 14, 2026 at 10 a.m. at Champaign Public Library, 200 W. Green Street, Champaign.
• Get Covered Illinois Marketplace Open Enrollment Meeting – Tuesday, November 10, 2026 at 6 p.m. at Champaign Public Library, 200 W. Green Street, Champaign.
• Get Covered Illinois Marketplace Open Enrollment Meeting – Thursday, December 3, 2026 at 6 p.m. at Urbana Free Library, 210 W. Green Street, Urbana.

CCHCC needs your financial support, and your active and ongoing involvement in our efforts to help our community members get covered. Please help spread the word about our services, and our upcoming community meetings, and/or make a contribution to help support CCHCC’s ongoing advocacy and organizing efforts, as well as our enrollment work.

We thank you for your commitment, and for your ongoing support and involvement!

SUPPORT CCHCC!

Sincerely,
Claudia Lennhoff
Executive Director
Champaign County Health Care Consumers