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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

Promotional image for KFF video How Affordable is the Affordable Care Act

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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  • Overview of Medicaid Per Capita Cap Proposals

    Issue Brief

    The House Republican Plan (“A Better Way”) released on June 22, 2016, includes a proposal to convert federal Medicaid financing from an open-ended entitlement to a per capita allotment or a block grant (based on a state choice). This proposal is part of a larger package designed to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and reduce federal spending for health care. Often tied to deficit reduction, proposals to convert Medicaid’s financing structure to a per…

  • Medicare Advantage Hospital Networks: How Much Do They Vary?

    Report

    This report takes an in-depth look at Medicare Advantage plans’ hospital networks. The analysis draws upon data from 409 Medicare Advantage plans serving beneficiaries in 20 diverse counties that together accounted for about one in seven (14%) Medicare Advantage enrollees nationwide in 2015. The report examines the size and composition of plans’ hospital networks, the variation across counties, the inclusion of Academic Medical Centers and NCI-Designated Cancer Centers, and the relationship between network size and…

  • 8 Preguntas & Respuestas sobre Puerto Rico

    Fact Sheet

    La crisis de $73 mil millones de Puerto Rico ha sido tema de los medios de comunicación nacionales, y de debate en el Congreso en los últimos meses. Además, varios de los principales medios de prensa han reportado sobre una inminente crisis de la atención de salud relacionada con cuestiones demográficas y del financiamiento del cuidado de salud, y exacerbada por la actual situación económica y el aumento de casos de trasmisión del virus del…

  • Early Analysis of 14 Major Cities Finds Benchmark Silver Plan Premiums in ACA Marketplaces Estimated to Rise 10 Percent on Average in 2017

    News Release

    A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of Affordable Care Act proposed marketplace rates finds benchmark silver plan premiums are projected to increase 10 percent in 2017 on average across 14 major metropolitan areas. Based on proposed rate filings in 13 states plus the District of Columbia where complete information is currently available, the analysis assesses how premiums for the second lowest-cost silver plan – which is the basis for enrollees’ tax credits -- would change in…

  • ACA Coverage Expansions and Low-Income Workers

    Issue Brief

    This brief highlights low-income workers and the impact of ACA coverage expansions on this population. Low-income workers may not have access to jobs that provide full-time, full-year employment or jobs with comprehensive benefit packages, including health insurance. Medicaid plays an important role in providing health coverage for low-income workers, and coverage expansions implemented under the ACA have produced substantial coverage gains for low-income workers and a corresponding reduction in the uninsured. However, low-income workers in…

  • Uncompensated Hospital Care Fell by $6 Billion Nationally in 2014, Primarily in Medicaid Expansion States; However Many Hospitals Worry About Future Changes in Medicaid Supplemental Payments

    News Release

    The Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansions have benefited hospitals financially, helping to produce an overall decline nationwide in uncompensated care from $34.9 billion to $28.9 billion in 2014, according to a new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Nearly all of the decline occurred in Medicaid expansion states, where uncompensated care costs were $10.8 billion in 2014 – down $5.7 billion, or 35 percent, from 2013, the year before ACA coverage expansions took full effect. The…

  • Understanding Medicaid Hospital Payments and the Impact of Recent Policy Changes

    Issue Brief

    Medicaid payments to hospitals, which include base and supplemental payments, play an important role in hospital finances and can affect beneficiaries’ access to care.This brief provides an overview of Medicaid payments for hospitals and explores the implications of the ACA Medicaid expansion, including changes in uncompensated care, as well as payment policy changes on hospital finances.