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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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  • Medicaid Eligibility, Enrollment Simplification, and Coordination under the Affordable Care Act: A Summary of CMS’s March 23, 2012 Final Rule

    Issue Brief

    This brief provides a summary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) March 23, 2012 final rule to implement the ACA provisions relating to Medicaid eligibility, enrollment simplification and coordination. The rule, which is effective Jan. 1, 2014, lays out procedures for states to implement the Medicaid expansion and the streamlined and integrated eligibility and enrollment system created under the ACA. Achieving this goal will require substantial process and system changes among state…

  • Study Finds Recent Slowdown in Health Spending Growth Mostly Tied to the Economy

    News Release

    Growth Expected To Move Towards Historical Levels In Coming Years As the Economy Recovers A new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of how the economy affects the nation’s health spending concludes that the record slow growth rate of recent years stems largely from economic factors beyond the health system, with the economy explaining 77 percent of the slowdown, and more rapid growth expected in coming years if the economy strengthens as expected. Based on statistical modeling…

  • 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

  • Questions for 2014

    From Drew Altman

    Today’s discussion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is focused on immediate implementation milestones leading up to 2014 when the law’s major provisions are set to kick in.  This is a critical period when the foundation for the ACA is being established and key building blocks such as the state Medicaid expansions, exchanges, and a host of regulations about other elements of the ACA being produced by HHS are getting our attention. But there is…

  • Health Reform Implementation Timeline

    Interactive

    The health reform implementation timeline is an interactive tool designed to explain how and when the provisions of the Affordable Care Act will be implemented over the next several years.

  • The California Endowment and the Kaiser Family Foundation Release “Health Reform Hits Main Street” Animation in Spanish

    News Release

    Health Reform Explained – En Español  MENLO PARK, Calif. (January 12, 2012) – Today, The California Endowment and the Kaiser Family Foundation are releasing a Spanish-language version of “Health Reform Hits Main Street,” the popular animation that explains the major provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Written and produced by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Spanish-language version of the animated movie features narration by a partner of The Endowment, Dra. Isabel Gómez-Bassols, psychologist and host…

  • Ensuring the Health Care Needs of Women: A Checklist for Health Exchanges

    Issue Brief

    To inform the development of the state health insurance Exchanges under the Affordable Care Act, this checklist identifies key coverage, affordability and access issues that are important for women. Based on lessons learned from women’s health research and the Massachusetts experience, the checklist considers essential health benefits, implementation of no-cost preventive services including contraception, provider networks and affordability, outreach and enrollment efforts, and the importance of including gender and other demographic characteristics in data collection…

  • Webinar for Journalists: Researching Consumer Stories, Finding New Ideas & Securing Real-World Examples

    Event Date:
    Event

    Featuring Kaiser Health News Staff Writer Sarah Varney and “Insuring Your Health” columnist Michelle Andrews, this webinar will discuss approaches to covering this complex story by incorporating individual examples; provide tips and techniques for digging into the details of the law (with expert help) to describe how its provisions play out in real life; and suggest new angles and under-reported story ideas. Additionally, they will identify upcoming policy deadlines and timelines, and explore how to…

  • Getting into Gear for 2014: Shifting New Medicaid Eligibility and Enrollment Policies into Drive

    Report

    On January 1, 2014, many key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will start to go into effect, including the expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults and the launch of new Medicaid eligibility and enrollment processes, which are designed to move toward a coordinated enrollment system across health coverage programs, including Medicaid, CHIP, and the new Health Insurance Marketplaces. Over the past year, states have made steady and significant progress preparing for these changes,…