Marketplace Premiums Jump as Enhanced ACA Subsidies Expire for 2026
Millions of Affordable Care Act marketplace enrollees are facing significantly higher premiums in 2026 after enhanced federal subsidies expired at the end of 2025. The enhanced premium tax credits, first enacted under the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, had expanded eligibility to households earning more than 400% of the federal poverty level and capped benchmark plan costs at 8.5% of income, according to Becker's Payer Issues.
Marketplace enrollment had reached 24.3 million people in 2025 under the enhanced credits, and the Urban Institute has estimated that roughly 4.8 million people could drop coverage without an extension of the enhanced subsidies, per the same reporting.
Separately, healthinsurance.org notes that insurers raised pre-subsidy premiums by a weighted average of more than 23% nationwide for 2026 — the largest overall increase the individual market has seen since 2018 — and that the maximum out-of-pocket limit for in-network care rose to $10,600 for an individual and $21,200 for a family.
For consumers who lose employer coverage or experience another qualifying event this year, comparing a marketplace plan against COBRA continuation coverage has become a more consequential decision given the narrower subsidy gap between the two options.