Nevada HealthLink reports nearly 6% drop in enrollments for 2026 coverage

Nevada Health Link, the state-run health insurance marketplace, announced Thursday that 104,286 people enrolled in health coverage during the open enrollment period, which ran from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15.

That’s a nearly 6% drop from the prior year, when more than 110,000 enrolled.

Comprehensive open enrollment data is not yet available for all states, but preliminary numbers released by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services earlier this month suggested open enrollment was down 3.5% nationally from the previous year.

According to Nevada HealthLink, nearly 7 in 10 enrollees actively shopped the exchange for 2026 insurance, a 32% increase in engagement over the prior year.

Of people that enrolled, 20,911 were new enrollees and 42,652 were active re-enrollees. Compared to the prior year, that is nearly 6,000 fewer new enrollees, and almost twice as many active re-enrollees.

Engagement by re-enrollees may have been driven by a desire to find cheaper plan options after premiums for their existing plans skyrocketed.

Insurance premiums for existing plans were approved by the state for an average rate increase of 26% for coverage in 2026.

Nevada’s public option — called Battle Born State Plans — accounted for 10% of total enrollment. Public option plans cover the same essential health benefits required by the Affordable Care Act, but they are designed to cost less.

Health care advocates for months have warned that many people struggle to absorb the rising cost of premiums, which has been compounded by the expiration of federal Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Top administrators in the state previously said they believe the Battle Born State Plans are softening the blow of overall rate hikes.