How to Buy ACA Leads That Actually Convert in 2026

Under-65 health is a volume business. Subsidized ACA plans mean many consumers pay little or nothing for coverage, so the sale is usually about helping someone enroll rather than convincing them to spend. That makes ACA some of the fastest-closing data in insurance.

It is also the vertical where bad leads do the most damage, because the volume that makes ACA profitable is the same volume that makes a bad list expensive fast. This guide covers what separates a real ACA lead from a recycled one, what is changing for the 2027 plan year, and how to time your buying across the calendar.

What is changing for 2027

Open enrollment for 2027 coverage begins November 1, 2026 in most states, and the market your prospects are walking into looks different from last year:

• Premiums are rising sharply. The median proposed rate increase nationwide is roughly 15 percent, ranging from under 7 percent in states like Vermont, Iowa and Utah to around 29 percent in Arizona.
• Insurers are exiting. More carriers are leaving than entering in over twenty states, which forces hundreds of thousands of enrollees to actively pick a new plan.
• The out-of-pocket maximum rises to $12,000, up from $10,600.
• Subsidy eligibility narrows for some immigrant categories starting in 2027, which will move a significant number of people off subsidized marketplace coverage.

Read those together and you get the single most important fact for an ACA agent this season: auto-renewal is going to burn a lot of people. Consumers who let their plan roll over are going to open a January premium notice that is materially higher than what they paid last year, and in many cases their carrier will have left entirely. That is your opening, and it is a genuinely helpful one.

What a good ACA lead looks like

• The consumer asked for health coverage. Not a sweepstakes entry, not a free gift card form, not a generic "save money" landing page. A health insurance quote request. Incentivized traffic is the number one reason ACA campaigns fail, and it is invisible until your contact rate craters.
• Household details are present. Household size and income range drive subsidy eligibility. Leads carrying them let your agents pre-qualify before the dial, which is the difference between 40 dials to a quote and 15.
• It is exclusive. ACA consumers get hammered during open enrollment. A shared lead sold to six agencies means your rep is the fourth call that hour, and the consumer is already annoyed before you say your name. See our breakdown of exclusive versus shared leads for the actual math.
• It carries a source and timestamp. If a vendor cannot tell you where a lead came from and when, assume the worst.

Fresh versus aged ACA

Fresh and aged ACA data do different jobs, and most agencies buy too much of one.

Real-time and under-24-hour leads are your appointment setters. Real-time is priced on availability with a 1,000 leads per day minimum; under 24 hours runs $1.50. Both demand speed-to-lead measured in minutes, and both are wasted on a team that cannot dial immediately.

Under 7 days at $0.50 and under 30 days at $0.30 balance speed and cost. This is where most agencies should anchor during open enrollment.

30+ day data at $0.15 is where a lot of agencies find their best cost per enrollment. Late enough that the fresh-lead buyers have moved on, recent enough that the intent is still warm.

90 to 180 day data at $0.10 to $0.15 is your Special Enrollment Period engine. The consumer shopped once, life changed, and a qualifying event may have opened a new window.

Special Enrollment Periods keep ACA alive in the off-season

Open enrollment is roughly ten weeks. The other forty-two weeks run on SEPs, and they are more common than most agents assume. A consumer qualifies after:

• Losing job-based coverage, including a spouse's plan
• Moving to a new ZIP or county with different plan options
• Getting married or divorced
• Having a baby, adopting, or placing a child for foster care
• Aging off a parent's plan at 26
• A change in income that alters subsidy eligibility
• Gaining lawful presence or citizenship

Aged ACA data plus two SEP qualifying questions on every call is a year-round business. Agencies that only sell during open enrollment are leaving three quarters of the calendar on the table.

Timing your buys

September and October

Pre-position. Buy 30 to 90 day aged volume now and warm it before the rush. Your reps get practice reps, and you enter November with a list already touched once.

November 1 through January 15

Peak. Buy fresh volume and work it hard. The December 15 deadline for January 1 coverage is the real urgency driver, not the January 15 close. Most of your enrollments land in the first six weeks.

February through August

Aged data and SEP outreach. Cost per lead drops, competition on the phone drops, and the consumers who missed open enrollment are now looking for a way in.

The dialing playbook

1. Call within minutes on fresh leads. Speed-to-lead still beats every other variable. A five-minute response outperforms a thirty-minute response by a wide margin.
2. On aged leads, lead with the change, not the pitch. "You looked at coverage a few months back. Rates changed for next year and a lot of people are now qualifying for more help than they did before." True, useful, and it does not pretend the lead is fresh.
3. Text after the first missed call where you have proper consent. A short compliant SMS lifts contact rates on aged ACA noticeably.
4. Make at least six attempts across different days and times before retiring a record. Most contacts happen on attempts three through six.
5. Measure cost per enrollment, not contact rate. Aged data will always show a worse contact rate. It frequently shows a better cost per issued policy.

Compliance basics

Use opt-in data, honor do-not-call requests immediately, scrub against the national DNC list where required, and keep your call records. Your vendor supplies compliant data; staying compliant in how you use it is on you, particularly around automated dialing and texting consent. Our TCPA guide covers the essentials.

The short version

Buy exclusive, verify the traffic source, and blend fresh with aged rather than going all-in on either. Anchor your season around the December 15 deadline. Ask SEP questions year-round. And this particular season, lead with the fact that auto-renewal is likely to cost your prospect real money, because for once the urgency is not manufactured.

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