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The ACA MarketplaceS

What We Know about Trump’s $500 ACA Checks and the User Fees Funding Them

This analysis examines the $500 checks that the Trump administration is sending to some Affordable Care Act Marketplace enrollees and the user fees that are paying for them. The checks are going to about 1 million enrollees in the 30 states that rely on the federal HealthCare.gov Marketplace who are not receiving any tax credits this year.

Individual Market Enrollment Declined by 18% Since June 2025

Individual Market Enrollment Fell 18%, Suggesting Continued ACA Marketplace Losses

Enrollment in the individual health insurance market fell by 18%—over 4.6 million people—from 25.2 million in June 2025 to 20.5 million in June 2026. Falling individual market enrollment suggests further decline in ACA Marketplace enrollment this year, since Marketplace enrollees represent the vast majority of individual market coverage. The enrollment decline coincides with the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits and other policy changes that are expected to reduce enrollment.

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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  • Consumer Assistance in Health Reform

    Issue Brief

    With the open enrollment period for health insurance exchanges less than six months away, consumers are already asking questions about their new health care options under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Even in the age of digital information, hands-on consumer assistance could play a key role in helping people understand their insurance choices come 2014 — a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll showed that two thirds of the uninsured and a majority of Americans overall…

  • Health Coverage by Race and Ethnicity: The Potential Impact of the Affordable Care Act

    Issue Brief

    Executive Summary One of the key goals of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is to reduce the number of uninsured through a Medicaid expansion and the creation of health insurance exchange marketplaces with advance premium tax credits to help moderate-income individuals pay for this coverage. Given that people of color are at disproportionate risk of being uninsured and having low incomes, the ACA coverage expansions could particularly benefit communities of color and advance efforts to…

  • 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…

  • State Marketplace Profiles: Delaware

    Other Post

    Final update made on October 10, 2013 (no further updates will be made) Establishing the Marketplace In July 2012, Governor Jack Markell (D) indicated that Delaware would begin planning for a State Partnership Marketplace.1  Delaware will retain plan management and consumer assistance functions, and defer other Marketplace management functionality to the federal government.2  In July 2013, the state announced that the Marketplace would be called Choose Health Delaware. The Delaware Health Care Commission, housed within the Department…

  • State Marketplace Profiles: New Hampshire

    Other Post

    Final update made on November 1, 2013 (no further updates will be made) Establishing the Marketplace On June 18, 2012, Governor John Lynch (D) signed HB 1297 into law, which prohibits the state from participating in or enabling a state-based health insurance Marketplace. However, HB 1297 allows for state agencies or departments to “operate specific functions of a federally-facilitated exchange."1  Given this authority, newly-elected Governor Maggie Hassan (D) informed federal officials on February 13, 2013 that…

  • State Marketplace Profiles: Michigan

    Other Post

    Final update made on November 26, 2013 (no further updates will be made) Establishing the Marketplace While Governor Rick Snyder (R) supports the creation of a State-based Marketplace, he acknowledged on November 16, 2012, that without authorizing legislation, he would plan for a State-federal Partnership Marketplace.1  The state began moving in the direction of a partnership in August 2012 due to legislative opposition that left the state unable to meet the federal timetable for implementation.2  Michigan will…

  • State Marketplace Profiles: Iowa

    Other Post

    Final update made on November 18, 2013 (no further updates will be made) Establishing the Marketplace On December 14, 2012, Governor Terry Branstad (R) informed federal officials that Iowa would pursue a State-federal Partnership Marketplace.1  Iowa will assume plan management functions in the Marketplace and will continue to perform Medicaid and CHIP eligibility determinations. The state intends to transition to a fully State-based Marketplace in 2016. Contracting with Plans: The Iowa Insurance Department (IID) is responsible…

  • State Marketplace Profiles: New Mexico

    Other Post

    Final update made on October 25, 2013 (no further updates will be made) Establishing the Marketplace On March 28, 2013, Governor Susana Martinez (R) signed legislation creating the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange (NMHIX). Governor Martinez had vetoed previous legislation that would have established a Marketplacein 2011; however, the state had moved forward with a plan to create the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange within the New Mexico Health Insurance Alliance.1  The Alliance was created…

  • State Exchange Profiles: South Carolina

    Other Post

    Final update made on December 10, 2012 (no further updates will be made) Establishing the Exchange On November 15, 2012, Governor Nikki Haley (R) informed federal officials South Carolina would default to a federally-operated health insurance exchange.1 This decision was largely based on findings from the South Carolina Health Planning Committee which had concluded the state cannot implement a state-based exchange as required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and should instead encourage the establishment of…

  • State Exchange Profiles: Wisconsin

    Other Post

    Final update made on December 11, 2012 (no further updates will be made) Establishing the Exchange  On November 16, 2012, Governor Scott Walker (R) notified federal officials that Wisconsin would default to a federally-facilitated health insurance exchange.1 After initial efforts to develop a state-based health insurance exchange, Governor Walker announced in July 2012, he would not take any action to implement federal health reform until after the November elections.2 In 2011, Walker had issued an executive order…