Explaining Health Savings Accounts in the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces
This brief examines how the budget reconciliation law expanded access to HSA-eligible plans and accounts on the ACA Marketplaces and what these changes means for enrollees
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This brief examines how the budget reconciliation law expanded access to HSA-eligible plans and accounts on the ACA Marketplaces and what these changes means for enrollees
This data note summarizes recent KFF polling on Americans’ experiences with health care costs, which factor into decisions about insurance coverage and care seeking and consistently ranks as a top financial worry for adults and their families.
Workers are paying on average $7,471 annually toward the premiums for employer-sponsored family health benefits this year, which is up 9%, or $621, from 2025, per KFF’s annual benchmark health benefits survey of large and small employers. The burden of family premiums hits particularly hard for workers at small firms with less than 200 workers. On average, covered workers in small firms are contributing $9,687 annually toward family coverage this year. That’s $2,847 more than…
This is the 28th Employer Health Benefits Survey (EHBS) and reflects employer-sponsored health benefits in 2026. As in years past, the survey examines trends in employer coverage, including premiums, employee contributions, deductibles, offer rates, and employer practices. This year, we asked employers detailed questions about satisfaction with their health plans; coverage of GLP-1 agonists and IVF; actions taken in response to projected cost increases; and firms’ ability to obtain information about health care costs and…
The average Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace deductible experienced the steepest increase in history—growing by 37% or over $1,000, from $2,759 in 2025 to $3,786 in 2026 as enhanced premium tax credits expired, according to a new KFF analysis. After the enhanced tax credits ended, many Marketplace shoppers shifted toward lower-premium, higher-deductible plans.
This KFF survey is a follow-up survey of adults who had ACA Marketplace insurance in 2025. The survey examines the cost concerns and coverage changes that these 2025 Marketplace enrollees are experiencing following the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits. The survey finds that half of returning enrollees say their health care costs are “a lot higher” and most expect to cut back on basic household expenses to afford coverage.
This Health System Tracker analysis examines the tradeoffs ACA Marketplace enrollees must consider as they decide whether to keep their current plan or switch to a new one, following the expiration of the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits at the end of 2025.
Policy changes, anticipated increases in premium costs for enrollees, and new standards for health savings accounts may encourage consumers to seek out plans with lower premiums but higher deductibles. This issue brief explores the features of bronze and catastrophic plans, coverage and costs, and the complicated choices consumers face.
In a new column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman forecasts eight things to look for in health policy in 2026. “First and foremost,” he writes, “is the role health care affordability will play in the midterms.” And, he notes: “The average cost of a family policy for employers could approach $30,000 and cost sharing and deductibles will rise again after plateauing for several years.”
If the amount they pay in premiums doubled, about one in three enrollees in Affordable Care Act Marketplace health plans say they would be “very likely” to look for a lower-premium Marketplace plan (with higher deductibles and co-pays) and one in four would “very likely” go without insurance next year, finds a new survey of Marketplace enrollees fielded shortly after open enrollment began in the first weeks of November. The survey captures the views and…
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