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The ACA MarketplaceS

Change in February effectuated enrollment, by state, 2025-2026

How Has ACA Marketplace Enrollment Changed Across States in 2026?

ACA Marketplace enrollment fell this year in every state except New Mexico, which was the only state to fully replace the enhanced premium tax credits that expired last year with a state-funded subsidy, according to a new KFF analysis of effectuated enrollment data. The Marketplace enrollment decline—the first in seven years—follows several years of rapid enrollment growth and coincides with the end of the enhanced federal subsidies.

How Much and Why ACA Marketplace Premiums Are Going Up in 2027

ACA Marketplaces insurers are proposing a median premium increase of 15% in 2027, according to KFF’s updated analysis of 276 insurers with publicly available filings across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This is the second consecutive year of double-digit premium hikes. Last year’s median nationwide proposed rate change was 18%, and the median finalized rate change was 20%. While this proposed rate change is lower than last year, it represents the second-highest requested rate change since 2018, as premium growth had been relatively flat in this market for several years.

About the ACA

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Did the Affordable Care Act Make Health Care More Affordable?

The expiration of the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits at the start of 2026, combined with rising insurer premiums, put a spotlight on health care affordability that extends beyond Marketplace enrollees. KFF’s Cynthia Cox examines the ACA’s record and the broader underlying question it raises: what’s a fair price for Americans people to pay for health care?

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  • What’s the Near-Term Outlook for the Affordable Care Act?

    News Release

    With congressional Republicans’ efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act on hold, a new issue brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation answers questions about the current state of the 2010 health law, zeroing in on the individual insurance marketplaces that the law established. Questions addressed by the brief include: Is Obamacare failing? How would administrative actions affect market stability? What happens if the market fails? What might be done to strengthen the Marketplaces?

  • The Requirement to Buy Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act

    Other Post

    Note:  Congress eliminated the federal tax penalty for not having health insurance, effective January 1, 2019. Along with changes to the health insurance system that guarantee access to coverage to everyone regardless of pre-existing health conditions, the Affordable Care Act includes a requirement that many people be insured or pay a penalty. This simple flowchart illustrates how that requirement (sometimes known as an "individual mandate") works.     >>Download the PDF

  • It’s Not Obamacare Anymore. It’s Our National Health-Care System.

    From Drew Altman

    In this Washington Post op-ed, Drew Altman and Larry Levitt discuss why the latest Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act failed and what it will take for congress and the administration to address the next challenge, providing long-term stability to the ACA marketplaces.

  • Using Medicaid to Wrap Around Private Insurance: Key Questions to Consider

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief raises three key questions for consideration if using Medicaid to wrap around private coverage is going to be considered as an alternative to the ACA's Medicaid expansion under the BCRA. We draw on existing information about state Medicaid premium assistance programs to date, the administrative complexity involved, and the financing implications of premium assistance programs.

  • Medicaid’s Role in West Virginia

    Fact Sheet

    This fact sheet provides data on Medicaid's role in West Virginia. It describes how ending the enhanced match for Medicaid expansion and implementing a per capita cap or block grant would affect West Virginia.

  • Medicaid’s Role in Tennessee

    Fact Sheet

    This fact sheet provides data on Medicaid's role in Tennessee and describes how implementing a per capita cap or block grant would affect Tennessee.