ACA marketplace premiums set to spike next year, on top of expiration of enhanced premium tax credit

The roughly 583,000 Ohioans who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace will soon face steep cost increases plus deep cuts to a popular tax credit that helps pay for most of those premiums, new data show (Source: “ACA health insurance plans surge in cost as subsidies for low-wage Ohioans are set to expire,” Signal Ohio, Oct. 31). 
 
Premiums for marketplace plans sold in Ohio are set to increase between 13% and 17% in 2026, new marketplace data from KFF researchers show. The researchers there analyzed data for a 40-year-old person seeking coverage in each Ohio county. 
 
That figure is just the premium insurers charge. Almost 90% of people covered by the ACA marketplace plans receive a subsidy, which varies in size by income, location and age.
 
The subsidies, which are given in the form of a refundable tax credit, were increased in 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, leading to a substantial decrease in the cost of premiums and a corresponding increase in marketplace enrollment. Those enhanced premium tax credits are set to expire at the end of this year, and renewal of the more generous tax credits is the primary source of disagreement behind the federal government shutdown. Democrats in the U.S. Senate have refused to support a federal spending package unless Republicans address the expiring subsidies, which has led to the 29-day and counting government shutdown.