End of Enhanced ACA Tax Credits Causes Americans to Cut Back

March 20, 2026

The loss of Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits has led a large majority of marketplace enrollees to report their health care costs are higher.

A new Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) poll indicates 80 percent of individual marketplace consumers say their health care costs have increased. The follow-up poll assesses how the loss of premium support affects enrollees’ daily lives.

Here are five takeaways from the report:

• Rising concern:  About 17 percent of returning marketplace enrollees report they are not confident they will be able to afford their premiums this year.
• Losing coverage:  About 9 percent dropped their coverage and are now uninsured. About 28 percent changed plans.
• Cutting costs:  About 55 percent report they plan to cut spending on food or other basic household expenses to afford health care costs.
• Key issue:  About 73 percent who had marketplace coverage and are registered voters say health care costs will affect their decision to vote.
• Quotable:  “The impacts on Marketplace enrollees we see in this follow-up survey will likely get worse as people struggle to make payments and the grace period many have expires,” KFF President and CEO Drew Altman said in a statement.

Additional information on the KFF poll is available online.