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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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  • Explaining Health Care Reform: Questions About Health Insurance Exchanges

    Issue Brief

    The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), signed into law in March 2010, made broad changes to the way health insurance will be provided and paid for in the United States. PPACA created a new mechanism for purchasing coverage called Exchanges, which are entities that will be set up in states to create a more organized and competitive market for health insurance by offering a choice of health plans, establishing common rules regarding the…

  • Income-Relating Medicare Part B and Part D Premiums: How Many Medicare Beneficiaries Will Be Affected?

    Issue Brief

    Income-Relating Medicare Part B and Part D Premiums: How Many Medicare Beneficiaries Will Be Affected? New in February 2012: Brief Examines Proposals to Further Expand Medicare's Income-Related Premiums This new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation examines the number of Medicare beneficiaries who will pay higher Part B or Part D premiums as a result of newly enacted provisions included the 2010 health reform law. Part B Premiums. The health reform law modifies a requirement…

  • Implementing Health Reform in the States

    Event Date:
    Event

    The Alliance for Health Reform, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Association of Health Care Journalists sponsored this live webinar on March 27, 2012, to take a look at what's happening in the states with implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Many of the key decisions implementing the health reform law are left to the states. For example, states have leeway in how they set up health insurance exchanges, where uninsured individuals…

  • 2021 Calculator – Before COVID-19 Relief

    Interactive

    The Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator, updated with 2021 premium data, provides estimates of health insurance premiums and subsidies for people purchasing insurance on their own in health insurance exchanges (or “Marketplaces”) created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). With this calculator, you can enter your income, age, and family size to estimate your eligibility for subsidies and how much you could spend on health insurance.

  • State Marketplace Profiles: Hawaii

    Other Post

    Final update made on November 6, 2013 (no further updates will be made)  Establishing the Marketplace On July 11, 2011, Governor Neil Abercrombie (D) signed SB 1348 into law establishing the Hawaii Health Connector, a State-based health insurance Marketplace.1  The law builds on Hawaii’s Prepaid Health Care Act of 1975 (PHCA) which required nearly all employers to provide health insurance to employees working 20 or more hours a week for four consecutive weeks.2  Structure: The legislation established the…

  • State Exchange Profiles: Maine

    Other Post

    Final update made on April 2, 2013 (no further updates will be made)  Establishing the Exchange On November 16, 2012, Governor Paul LePage (R) wrote in a letter to federal officials that Maine would not be pursuing efforts to implement a state-based health insurance exchange.1 Legislation establishing a state-run health insurance exchange failed to pass in 2011 and 2012. Prior to ending planning efforts, the Governor created an exchange Advisory Committee in July 2011, which included…

  • State Exchange Profiles: New Jersey

    Other Post

    Final update made on December 10, 2012 (no further updates will be made) Establishing the Exchange  On December 7, 2012, Governor Chris Christie (R) vetoed A 3186/S 2135, which would have established a health insurance exchange within the Department of Banking and Insurance and announced that the state would default to a federal exchange.1Governor Chris Christie (R) vetoed similar legislation earlier in 2012.2 In 2011, the New Jersey Interagency Working Group on the ACA, led…

  • State Exchange Profiles: Texas

    Other Post

    Final update made on December 11, 2012 (no further updates will be made) Establishing the Exchange On July 9, 2012, Governor Rick Perry (R) announced that Texas would not establish an exchange.1 Prior to this announcement, the Department of Insurance and the Health and Human Services Commission had partnered to explore exchange implementation plans.2 Using federal grant funding they identified subcontractors to assist with the exchange planning process, to collect stakeholder feedback, and to investigate the state’s…

  • High Health-Care Prices: More Talk Than Action  

    News Release

    In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank, Drew Altman explores how price is the major factor that distinguishes the cost of our health care system from those in other developed nations, yet most efforts in the U.S. to address health-care costs don't focus on price much at all. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available online.

  • What a Break in the Obamacare Battles Could Bring

    From Drew Altman

    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.