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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?

The ACA MarketplaceS

In Preliminary Rate Filings, ACA Marketplace Insurers Largely Propose Double-Digit Premium Increase For 2027, Following a Steep Climb This Year 

ACA Marketplace insurers are proposing a median premium increase of 14% for 2027— indicating a likely second consecutive year of double-digit increases, according to a new analysis of preliminary rate filings in 16 states and DC. If these increases hold, typical premiums for insurers participating in the ACA Marketplaces would jump by more than one-third between 2025 and 2027.

The Average Marketplace Deductible Grew by About $1,000 Per Person in 2026, With More Enrollees Shifting to Higher-Deductible Plans as Enhanced Tax Credits Expired

The average Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace deductible experienced the steepest increase in history—growing by 37% or over $1,000, from $2,759 in 2025 to $3,786 in 2026 as enhanced premium tax credits expired, according to a new KFF analysis. After the enhanced tax credits ended, many Marketplace shoppers shifted toward lower-premium, higher-deductible plans.

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  • Briefing, Survey Examine 2012 Data From 50-State Survey of Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility and Enrollment Policies

    Event Date:
    Event

    Despite continued tight state budgets, a requirement in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that states maintain eligibility in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs was central in preserving coverage during 2011. In addition, more than half of states (29) made improvements in their programs, often using technology to increase program efficiency and streamline enrollment. These and other findings appear in the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured report, "Performing Under Pressure: Annual Findings of…

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — December 2011

    Poll Finding

    The October downturn in the share of Americans with a favorable view of the health reform law, a dip driven by an erosion of support among Democrats, has been fully reversed in December, with support among Democrats rebounding and overall national opinion on the law returning to the roughly even split seen in Kaiser polls for most of 2011.  The concept of health exchanges, a key piece of the law, has wide, bipartisan support.  The…

  • December Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Public Again Divided on ACA, Independents Polarized, and Exchanges Widely Popular

    Perspective

    According to the December Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, the October downturn in the share of Americans with a favorable view of the health reform law has been fully reversed in December and overall opinion on the law returned to the roughly even split seen for most of 2011. Forty-three percent of Americans expressed unfavorable views of the law in December, while 41 percent had favorable views. Partisan divisions persist and the findings suggest not only…

  • Insurance Brokers and the Medical Loss Ratio

    Perspective

    In a close vote, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) recently adopted a resolution urging Congress and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to exempt insurance broker and agent compensation from medical loss ratio (MLR) requirements or otherwise adjust the requirements to ease their effect. HHS last week released its final MLR rule, maintaining its original decision to count broker compensation as an administrative cost for insurers. H.R. 1206, a bill that…

  • Inside Deficit Reduction: What Now?

    Event Date:
    Event

    The Budget Control Act of 2011 tasked members of a "Super Committee" to find at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade. Members did not reach an agreement by the November 23 deadline and as a result automatic spending cuts to defense and entitlement programs are set to kick in beginning in January 2013. Panelists at this briefing discussed the impact the sequester will have on the health care sector and how…

  • The Texas Health Care Landscape

    Report

    This fact sheet summarizes the Texas health care landscape, including data on demographics, population health, the uninsured and the state Medicaid program. Fact Sheet (.pdf)

  • Performance Measurement Under Health Reform: Proposed Measures For Eligibility and Enrollment Systems and Key Issues and Trade-offs to Consider

    Issue Brief

    The adoption of new eligibility and enrollment requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides states and the federal government an important opportunity to implement a meaningful set of performance measures for eligibility and enrollment systems. Performance measures could be used at the federal level to assess state performance in meeting the ACA’s eligibility and enrollment goals, while states could use measures for program management and quality improvement. This brief seeks to inform the development…

  • The Texas Health Care Landscape

    Fact Sheet

    This fact sheet summarizes the Texas health care landscape, including data on demographics, population health, the uninsured and the state Medicaid program. Fact Sheet (.pdf)

  • California and Texas: Section 1115 Medicaid Demonstration Waivers Compared

    Fact Sheet

    This fact sheet compares and contrasts key provisions of the California and Texas Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration waivers. The Texas waiver, approved in December 2011, is modeled, in part, on the California waiver, which has been underway in that state since November 2010. Both waivers affect hundreds of thousands of Medicaid beneficiaries, involve billions of federal Medicaid matching funds, and are designed, in part, to promote changes in the health care delivery system that will…

  • Webcast: New CMS Estimates of State-by-State Health Expenditures

    Event Date:
    Event

    The Kaiser Family Foundation held a live interactive webcast on December 7, 2011, to discuss trends in state health care expenditures and the implications for national and state efforts to constrain health care costs. The webcast examines new state-by-state estimates of public and private health spending from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published in the online journal, Medicare and Medicaid Research Review. An expert panel offers perspectives on the trends within and…