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The ACA MarketplaceS

What We Know about Trump’s $500 ACA Checks and the User Fees Funding Them

This analysis examines the $500 checks that the Trump administration is sending to some Affordable Care Act Marketplace enrollees and the user fees that are paying for them. The checks are going to about 1 million enrollees in the 30 states that rely on the federal HealthCare.gov Marketplace who are not receiving any tax credits this year.

Individual Market Enrollment Declined by 18% Since June 2025

Individual Market Enrollment Fell 18%, Suggesting Continued ACA Marketplace Losses

Enrollment in the individual health insurance market fell by 18%—over 4.6 million people—from 25.2 million in June 2025 to 20.5 million in June 2026. Falling individual market enrollment suggests further decline in ACA Marketplace enrollment this year, since Marketplace enrollees represent the vast majority of individual market coverage. The enrollment decline coincides with the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits and other policy changes that are expected to reduce enrollment.

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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  • JAMA Forum: Is the Affordable Care Act Imploding?

    Perspective

    In this April 2017 post, Larry Levitt discusses the current status of the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplaces, and explains how the Trump administration's choices -- including whether to continue cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers -- could influence stability of the marketplaces going forward. The post is now available at The JAMA Forum.

  • Why Trump’s Dealmaking Model Doesn’t Fit Health Care Policy

    From Drew Altman

    In this column as an Axios contributor, Drew Altman discusses President Trump's threat to withhold cost sharing subsidies and questions whether his approach to deal making can bridge health care's partisan and ideological divide. "Health policy is not like real estate," he says.

  • The Effects of Ending the Affordable Care Act’s Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments

    Issue Brief

    This analysis estimates that total federal spending on Affordable Care Act marketplace subsidies would rise $2.3 billion, or 23 percent, in 2018 if payments for the cost-sharing reduction program were eliminated and insurers increased premiums to compensate. Established to reduce out-of-pocket costs for marketplace enrollees with lower incomes, the cost-sharing payments are being challenged in a lawsuit from the U.S. House.

  • Data Note: Medicaid Managed Care Growth and Implications of the Medicaid Expansion

    Issue Brief

    Most states today rely heavily on risk-based managed care organizations (MCOs) to serve Medicaid beneficiaries. This Data Note discusses the current role of managed care in Medicaid and examines differences in managed care growth between states that expanded Medicaid to low-income adults under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and states that did not expand Medicaid.

  • Medicaid Coverage of Pregnancy and Perinatal Benefits: Results from a State Survey

    Report

    This report details findings from a state survey on perinatal benefits in place as of July 1, 2015 for women enrolled in fee-for-service Medicaid through different eligibility pathways, including traditional pre-ACA Medicaid pathways, expansion, and pregnancy-related eligibility for the following services: basic prenatal care, counseling and support services, delivery and postpartum care, and breastfeeding supports.

  • State Variation in Medicaid Per Enrollee Spending for Seniors and People with Disabilities

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief explains the variation in Medicaid spending per enrollee for seniors, nonelderly adults with disabilities, and children with disabilities compared to other populations as well as the variation in per enrollee spending for these populations among states. It also provides a snapshot of state choices about optional eligibility pathways and services important to many seniors and people with disabilities.

  • For ACA Enrollees, How Much Premiums Rise Next Year is Mostly up to Congress

    Policy Watch

    Most customers with coverage through Affordable Care Act's marketplaces will face big premium increases next year if Congress doesn’t extend the temporary enhanced tax credits included in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. If the outcome isn’t clear by summer, fall open enrollment could be a mess.

  • Examining Prior Authorization in Health Insurance

    Policy Watch

    This post explains what's known about how insurers use prior authorization as a tool to control costs and encourage cost-effective care, the state and federal laws that govern it, and ongoing policy debates over efforts to impose standards to limit or regulate its use.