On July 16, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland granted the Plaintiff’s motion for a stay on certain provisions in City of Columbus v. Kennedy (Columbus II). The Plaintiffs’ challenges were focused on provisions of the 2027 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters Final Rule which they argued imposed barriers to coverage, increased costs for enrollees, and permitted issuers to offer less comprehensive coverage. The court granted all of the Plaintiffs’ motions for a stay. In addition, on June 12, 2026, in City of Columbus v. Kennedy (Columbus I), the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland issued an order striking certain provisions of the 2025 Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Final Rule.
In light of these Court orders, on July 31, 2026, CMS issued a statement acknowledging the stay of certain provisions which were scheduled to go into effect on July 20, 2026, or ahead of plan year 2027, but as a result of the Court’s order in Columbus II, will not go into effect as finalized. Additionally, CMS has published updated guidelines for Exchanges and issuers:
- Failure to File and Reconcile: For plan year 2026, CMS has directed Exchanges to immediately update their systems to stop removing or denying advanced premium tax credit for any new applicants or existing enrollees based on a failure to file and reconcile prior years’ premium tax credits and Exchanges must continue in this manner for plan year 2027.
- Data Matching Inconsistencies: This guidance also noted that CMS reimplemented the automatic 60-day extension of time to resolve household income data inconsistencies.
- Open Enrollment: This guidance also confirmed that open enrollment at the Federally-facilitated Exchange will begin on November 1, 2026 and end on January 15, 2027.
- Updated Qualified Health Plan (QHP) Timeline: CMS released a revised PY2027 QHP Data Submission and Certification Timeline Bulletin. Of note, the final application deadline for issuers to submit changes to their QHP Applications has been pushed back from August 12, 2026, to August 20, 2026. Effective Rate Review States with Exchanges served by the HealthCare.gov platform will now have until August 20th to finalize determinations for rate filing justifications that include a QHP.
- Standardized Plan Options: Under the stay, issuers participating in the FFE and SBE-FP are required to offer standardized plan options in the individual market and will be limited in how many non-standardized plan options they can offer in plan year 2027. On August 4, 2026, CMS published Guidance on Standardized Plan Options and Non-Standardized Plan Option Limits and Exceptions in Light of Stay Order in City of Columbus v. Kennedy, No. 26-2215 (D. Md.).
- Updated Federal Standard Renewal and Product Discontinuation Notices: CMS published guidance to provide updated Federal standard notices of product discontinuation and renewal and provide individual market QHP issuers with guidance on required modifications to the updated Federal standard notices in connection with the open enrollment period for coverage in the 2027 benefit year. In line with the court order in Columbus I, the guidance provides instructions for removing outdated language that refers to the “five dollar auto re-enrollment policy” from issuer notices.
We expect CMS to continue to publish additional guidance as needed and are monitoring updates.
For more information on the NBPP final rule and Columbus I and II litigation, see our prior publications:
- Court Stays Challenged Provisions of the 2027 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters Final Rule, Michelle Koltov, Lisa Campbell, A. Xavier Baker, Tamara Killion
- Feasible or Impossible? Competing Declarations Follow Oral Argument in City of Columbus II, Michelle Koltov, Lisa Campbell
- HHS Files Opposition in Columbus II Litigation, Michelle Koltov, Lisa Campbell
- CMS Issues 2027 HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters Final Rule | Groom Law Group
- City of Columbus et al. Challenge Provisions of the HHS 2027 Payment Notice Final Rule, Michelle Koltov, Lisa Campbell
- The Friday Evening Surprise: CMS Releases the 2027 Payment Notice Final Rule, Michelle Koltov, Lisa Campbell
