As we begin 2026, a significant change is affecting millions of Americans who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces. The enhanced tax credits, often known as health subsidies, that have kept premiums cheap for more than 20 million people will expire at the end of 2025. This means that health subsidies will expire, resulting in major health insurance hikes for many families beginning this year. According to analyses by health policy experts, subsidized enrollees’ premium prices might more than double on average.
These health subsidies expire after years of temporary extensions intended to help during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, but political conflicts prevented a renewal. What was the result? Sky-high premium increases arriving just as health care affordability tops voters’ lists of worries, fueling widespread health insurance cost hikes that hit self-employed workers, small business owners, and others hard.
The Real Impact of Health Insurance Cost Hikes
Because of the elimination of these health subsidies, many Americans will now face significant hikes in their monthly insurance premiums. Premiums for the more than 20 million individuals who rely on them are expected to increase dramatically with some doubling, tripling, or worse as health insurance cost hikes go into force.
“It really bothers me that the middle class has moved from a squeeze to a full suffocation, and they continue to just pile on and leave it up to us,” said 37-year-old single mom Katelin Provost, whose health care costs are set to jump. “I’m incredibly disappointed that there hasn’t been more action.”
Stories like this show how the end of these health subsidies is directly pushing health insurance costs through the roof.
Stan Clawson, a freelance filmmaker who suffers from paralysis caused by a spinal cord injury, saw his monthly premium go from about $350 to nearly $500. For Provost, a social worker, the situation is much more difficult; her monthly premium is jumping from $85 to over $750.
These changes affect a broad range of people who do not have insurance through their employers or government programs such as Medicaid or Medicare, including farmers, ranchers, and many middle-class families dealing with growing overall health-care expenses.
Enrollment and Potential Drop-Offs
With health subsidies expiring, experts estimate that many people, particularly younger and healthier people, would cancel coverage entirely in order to avoid health insurance cost hikes. This could leave the ACA exchanges with an older, sicker pool of participants, potentially driving up costs in the long run.
According to analyses, millions of people might be uninsured in 2026 if nothing changes. Most states still have open enrollment until mid-January, so the effects are already beginning to show. Katelin Provost, a single mother, is hoping for congressional action, but if prices continue to rise, she plans to drop her own coverage and just keep it for her young daughter.
Political Battles and Missed Opportunities
Despite months of talks, efforts to extend health-care subsidies were unsuccessful. Democrats pushed hard for renewals, while some Republicans saw the necessity but resisted. Partisan bills failed, and even centrist efforts were unable to bridge the gap before the deadline.
Americans affected by these health-care expense increases are dissatisfied, looking for real solutions beyond politics. “Both Republicans and Democrats have been saying for years, oh, we need to fix it. Then do it,” urged Chad Bruns, a 58-year-old ACA enrollee from Wisconsin. “They need to get to the root cause, and no political party ever does that.”
A potential House vote early this year could reconsider extensions, but passage remains unclear.
A Call for Broader Solutions
As health subsidies expire and health insurance cost hikes hit family budgets hard, many are pressing Congress to not just reinstate the credits but also address the underlying issues that make health care pricey. The beginning of 2026 represents a difficult transition for millions, highlighting how important these subsidies were and how much effort needed to ensure that coverage does not fall beyond of reach for ordinary Americans. Without action, these health insurance premium increases could increase financial strain and leave more people uninsured at an already difficult time.
