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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

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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?

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  • State Demonstrations to Integrate Care and Align Financing for Dual Eligible Beneficiaries: A Review of the 26 Proposals Submitted to CMS

    Report

    The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed two models to align Medicare and Medicaid benefits and financing for dual eligible beneficiaries, one capitated model and one managed fee-for-service model. In the spring of 2012, 26 states submitted proposals to CMS seeking to test one or both of these models. CMS is presently reviewing the states' proposals to determine which will be implemented. This background paper examines the contents of the 26 states'…

  • Pre-X Redux

    From Drew Altman

    With the focus now mainly on exchanges, Medicaid expansions, and enrolling the uninsured in newly available coverage arrangements, there is less attention lately to the ACA insurance reforms which have always been the most popular parts of the law – changes which could affect every American’s insurance in some way and which go into effect regardless of the implementation decisions states make.  In this column, I draw on our recent tracking polls to review where…

  • Some Malleability In Views On Medicaid Expansion

    Feature

    Some Malleability In Views On Medicaid Expansion Download Source Kaiser Family Foundation/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health, The Public’s Health Care Agenda for the 113th Congress (conducted January 3-9, 2013)

  • Visualizing Health Policy: Health Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)

    Other Post

    The December 2012 Visualizing Health Policy infographic is a flowchart illustrating the mechanisms by which people will get health coverage beginning in 2014. See the full-size infographic at The Journal of the American Medical Association. Visualizing Health Policy is a monthly infographic series produced in partnership with the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Each month’s infographic is freely available on JAMA’s website and is published in the print edition of the journal.

  • The 4 Arguments You Will Hear Against Drug Price Negotiation

    Perspective

    As the Biden administration begins the process of negotiation drug prices for Medicare as authorized in the Inflation Reduction Act, KFF's Larry Levitt probes some of the arguments against it and the policy and political implications of the debate in this New York Times op-ed column.

  • ¿Quién puede comprar un plan catastrófico?

    FAQs

    En general, los planes catastróficos solo se pueden vender a adultos jóvenes menores de 30 años. Sin embargo, existen ciertas exenciones por dificultades económicas y asequibilidad para personas de 30 años o más, incluso si no existe un plan de salud calificado, dentro o fuera del mercado, que cueste menos del 8.05% de sus ingresos en 2026, o si no son elegibles para créditos fiscales para primas o reducciones de costos compartidos según sus ingresos…

  • Do Marketplace plans or Medicaid cover abortions?

    FAQs

    It depends on where you live and what type of coverage you have. For Marketplace plans, there is no federal requirement for plans to cover abortion. About half of states prohibit Marketplace plans from covering abortion. However, other states require plans to cover abortion services and do not permit cost sharing. For Medicaid enrollees, federal law only allows the use of federal funds for abortion in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment of the pregnant…

  • When can I apply for Marketplace premium tax credits when other coverage is available?

    FAQs

    In general, if you have or are offered other comprehensive, affordable coverage, you may not be eligible for premium tax credits on the Marketplace. However, there are several circumstances where you may be eligible. This chart lays out examples of different coverage types and whether or not they will disqualify you for premium tax credits.

  • Is there any reason the Marketplace wouldn’t automatically adjust and continue my premium tax credit at renewal time?

    FAQs

    Yes. If you live in a state that uses HealthCare.gov, when you first applied for coverage, you had the opportunity to authorize the Marketplace to check online income data about you, including from your tax returns, for another 1 to 5 years. If you did not authorize this, your financial assistance will NOT be automatically continued for next year and you will have to re-apply for financial assistance in order to keep receiving it. If…

  • Who can buy coverage in the Marketplace?

    FAQs

    Most people can shop for coverage in the Marketplace. To be eligible you must live in the state where your Marketplace is, you must be a citizen of the U.S. or be lawfully present in the U.S., you must not currently be incarcerated, and you cannot currently be enrolled in Medicare. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is no longer considered an eligible immigration status for health coverage through the Marketplaces. Not everybody who is…