Health Insurance Costs Skyrocket as Subsidies End for Millions

As the new year began, millions of Americans faced a harsh reality: their health insurance costs shot up dramatically. This happened because special financial help, known as subsidies, ended. These subsidies had been keeping health insurance affordable for many people since the COVID-19 pandemic started.

Political Stalemate

Politicians tried to find a solution, but they couldn't agree. Democrats and Republicans had different ideas, and neither side could convince the other. President Trump even suggested a way out, but he backed down after facing opposition from his own party. In the end, nothing was done to extend the subsidies before they expired.

Wide-Ranging Impact

This change affects a wide range of people, including self-employed workers, small business owners, and farmers. These are people who don't get health insurance through their jobs and don't qualify for other government programs like Medicaid or Medicare. With the midterm elections coming up, affordability is a top concern for voters, and health care costs are a big part of that.

Subsidies' Role

The subsidies had been helping people since 2021. They made health insurance more affordable for lower-income Americans and expanded eligibility for middle-class earners. On average, the more than 20 million people who relied on these subsidies are now seeing their premiums rise by 114% in 2026. This increase comes at a time when overall health costs in the U. S. are also going up, making it even harder for people to afford care.

Personal Stories

Stan Clawson

Stan Clawson, a freelance filmmaker from Salt Lake City, is trying to absorb the extra cost. Clawson's premiums will jump from $350 a month to nearly $500. It's a strain, but he needs health insurance because he lives with paralysis from a spinal cord injury.

Katelin Provost

Others, like Katelin Provost, a single mom, are facing even steeper hikes. Her monthly premium is increasing from $85 to nearly $750.

Lori Hunt

Lori Hunt, a breast cancer survivor from Des Moines, Iowa, said she couldn't afford health insurance without the subsidies. She expected her premium to jump to about $700 per month, which is more than her mortgage payment. Many people like Hunt are expected to drop their health insurance altogether, especially younger and healthier Americans. This could make the program more expensive for the older, sicker population that remains.

Analysts' Predictions

Health analysts predict that the expiration of the subsidies will drive many people to forgo health insurance coverage. An analysis conducted last September projected that higher premiums would prompt some 4.8 million Americans to drop coverage in 2026. The impact could be greatest in states like Florida, Texas, California, Georgia, and North Carolina, which have the largest number of ACA enrollees.

Kylie Barrios

Kylie Barrios, a 30-year-old Florida resident, said her health insurance premium is effectively tripling from 2025 to 2026. She expects it to rise from about $900 to $2,500. Provost, the single mother, said she is holding out hope that Congress finds a way to revive the subsidies early in the year. But if not, she'll drop herself off the insurance and keep it only for her 4-year-old daughter.

Political Fallout

Last year, after Republicans cut more than $1 trillion in federal health care and food assistance, Democrats repeatedly called for the subsidies to be extended. But while some Republicans acknowledged the issue needed to be addressed, they refused to put it to a vote until late in the year. In December, the Senate rejected two partisan health care bills. Meanwhile, Americans whose premiums are skyrocketing say lawmakers don't understand what it's really like to struggle to get by as health costs ratchet up with no relief.

Calls for Reform

Many say they want the subsidies restored alongside broader reforms to make health care more affordable for all Americans. Chad Bruns, a 58-year-old Affordable Care Act enrollee in Wisconsin, said, "Both Republicans and Democrats have been saying for years, oh, we need to fix it. Then do it." Barrios, who has generally voted Republican, said she would like politicians to "act on those values that they . . . claim to protect."