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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

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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  • Five Things to Know about the Renewal of Extra Affordable Care Act Subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act

    Policy Watch

    As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Senate recently passed a three-year extension (through 2025) of enhanced subsidies for people buying their own health coverage on the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces. The enhanced subsidies increase the amount of financial help available to those already eligible and also newly expand subsidies to middle-income people, many of whom were previously priced out of coverage. Here’s what to know about the likely renewal of these subsidies:

  • The Biggest Health Care Reform in a Decade Could Lower Your Costs

    Perspective

    Larry Levitt writes about the political and practical impact of the health care provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act  in The New York Times guest essay, “The Biggest Health Care Reform in a Decade Could Lower Your Costs.” 

  • Summary of Costs and Impact of the Prescription Drug Provisions in the Build Back Better Act

    News Release

    As the House-passed Build Back Better Act moves to the Senate, a new explainer from KFF summarizes the key prescription drug provisions within the broader budget reconciliation bill. These provisions would lower prescription drug costs paid by people with Medicare and private insurance and curb drug spending by the federal government and private payers. The Congressional Budget Office estimates federal budget savings from the drug pricing provisions would be $297 billion over 10 years. Although…

  • ¿Cómo funcionan los subsidios para las primas?

    FAQs

    Los subsidios para las primas reducen la prima (lo que paga cada mes por su cobertura) para la mayoría de los planes del mercado de seguros. El monto del crédito fiscal que puede recibir depende de sus ingresos y del costo de los planes de salud del mercado en su área. El mercado determinará la contribución esperada que debe pagar para la prima de un plan de referencia de rango medio (Plata). La contribución esperada…

  • ¿Cómo aplico para recibir los subsidios para ayudarme a pagar las primas?

    FAQs

    Comience completando la solicitud de cobertura en línea en cuidadodesalud.gov. Esto podría ser más rápido, aunque también puede enviarla mediante una solicitud impresa por correo postal o llamando al centro de atención telefónica del mercado y solicitando por teléfono. Solicitar en línea es probablemente la opción más rápida. Para solicitar en línea, deberá crear una cuenta personal segura con un nombre de usuario y una contraseña. Haga clic aquí para obtener información sobre cómo configurar…

  • Soy un adulto joven, recién independizado de mis padres, y nunca antes había presentado mi propia declaración de impuestos federal. ¿Puedo solicitar subsidios para las primas este año? ¿Eso generará alg...

    FAQs

    Sí, puede solicitar créditos fiscales para las primas este año. Un desafío que puede enfrentar es verificar sus ingresos. El mercado de seguros verifica los ingresos estimados de un solicitante en tiempo real durante el proceso de solicitud, utilizando datos del IRS de declaraciones de impuestos federales recientes y, a veces, otras fuentes de datos. Sin embargo, dado que nunca antes ha presentado una declaración de impuestos, el mercado debe aceptar su autodeclaración sobre su…

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Late June 2015 – A Special Focus On The Supreme Court Decision

    Feature

    The latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that when told that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to keep the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as it is, allowing subsidies to be provided to low- and moderate-income people in all states regardless of who runs their Marketplace, about 6 in 10 say they approve of the decision while about a third disapprove. The King v. Burwell ruling does not appear to have had an immediate effect on…

  • What a Break in the Obamacare Battles Could Bring

    News Release

    Following the Supreme Court’s King v. Burwell decision, the Affordable Care Act could use a break from the intense political heat, though it may not get a long one as the 2016 election season heats up and presidential candidates play to their bases on health care, writes Drew Altman in his latest column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available.

  • Takeaways From Alaska’s Medicaid Expansion

    From Drew Altman

    In this column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman discusses the implications of the governor of Alaska’s decision to move ahead unilaterally with Medicaid expansion.

  • Health and Access to Care and Coverage for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Individuals in the U.S.

    Issue Brief

    Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals often face challenges and barriers to accessing needed health services and, as a result, can experience worse health outcomes. These challenges can include stigma, discrimination, violence, and rejection by families and communities, as well as other barriers, such as inequality in the workplace and health insurance sectors, the provision of substandard care, and outright denial of care because of an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. This issue…