5 million have dropped ACA insurance after Trump and the GOP let prices skyrocket

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NPR

Updated June 27, 2026 10:24 AM ET


Far more people than previously known have dropped Affordable Care Act health insurance for 2026, according to data released Friday. Five million fewer people are currently enrolled in ACA marketplace plans compared to the record high reached last year. More than 1 million fewer people picked a plan for 2026, and then 4 million more either disenrolled or failed to pay their premiums and therefore dropped coverage.

Prices in the market skyrocketed after President Trump and Republicans in Congress failed to extend extra financial help for enrollees last year. The Department of Health and Human Services published a report about the data on its website Friday. The report says 19.2 million people are currently enrolled in ACA insurance now. At its high, 24.2 million people were in the ACA marketplace in 2025, according to government figures. The steep drop in enrollment reflects what insurers, administrators, and other health policy experts expected earlier this year.

After initial sign ups were lower than last year, they predicted that the picture would get worse as time went on and people found they could not afford to pay their premiums. "The main takeaway is that enrollment is down 13% from last year," explains Cynthia Cox, director of KFF's Program on the ACA. "While the Trump administration attributes this drop in enrollment to their attempts to address fraud, this coverage loss happened at the same time millions of people faced double or even triple digit increases in their premium payments with the expiration of enhanced tax credits."

The idea that the growth in enrollment was due to massive fraud is a theory advanced by the Paragon Health Institute, a conservative think tank that's influential in the Trump administration. Many health policy experts are skeptical. They say the increase in enrollment during the pandemic is not suspicious. It was a predictable consequence of Congress's investment of billions of federal dollars in making premiums more affordable — the enhanced premium tax credits.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2026/06/26/nx-s1-5860746/aca-health-insurance-subsidies-rates-premiums

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Link to HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) REPORT site - ACA Exchange Enrollment in 2026

Link to HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) REPORT (PDF) - https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/f5f29954221d5b5713070ac2541fda8e/aca-enrollment-report-2026-final-version.pdf

[lostincalifornia]

1. We can also thank those who refused to vote for VP Harris by either not voting,

voting third party, or those idiots who thought it was a good idea to give someone who tried to overthrow the government a second chance.

2000, 2016, 2024

the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”

[wolfie001]

8. Stupid and mindless motherfuckers

Sorry about the language but in this case it's appropriate. Also, the same shit in 2016. A lot of just plain stupid American morons. 2000 and 2004 are a couple of other fuck-ups. So now we're here...........

[lostincalifornia]

9. Agreed

[sop]

2. Let's not forget Trump promised to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act on February 24, 2016.

[PatSeg]

6. Yep, mission accomplished

Republicans have been trying to destroy the ACA (ObamaCare) from the beginning.

[OldBaldy1701E]

13. Let's be honest here.

Republicans have been trying to destroy parts of our population because said parts disagree with them.

It is the worst kind of tyranny and evil.

And, we keep thinking that this is a 'political disagreement'.

[PatSeg]

17. "Tyranny and evil"

And some of the people who are affected the most often try to say it is "political disagreement", but it is more like politics of destruction.

[OldBaldy1701E]

21. Hear Hear! (n/t)

[Bengus81]

15. Yep...and the massive cuts to Medicaid are so hideous they had to hide it

until two months after the mid term elections. Democrats need to POUND on that fact all the way to November and well beyond.

Don't let anyone forget that Republicants did this and owns this.

[Bengus81]

16. With Mitch McConnell leading the charge. Tried at least sixty times to kill or hobble

the ACA. Wonder if he's DEAD yet? Been at that hospital a long time. Fuck him!

[PatSeg]

18. What kind of person does that?

Meanwhile, he doesn't have to worry about affordable healthcare.

[Bengus81]

19. Trump for one, he came within one vote of killing the ACA forever

Most all Republicans would vote to kill the ACA,Social Security,Medicare and Medicaid. They don't care,they don't have too because of the buckets of cash they make while in office and in retirement and the perks like very cheap healthcare.

[PatSeg]

20. And they make it sound like wanting

affordable healthcare (or food and shelter) is some free giveaway for lazy, unworthy people. How dare the shiftless rabble demand life-saving medical care! They make it sound like a luxury just to stay alive.

[Vinca]

12. Yeah. He's replacing it with dead bodies.

[Auggie]

3. "Massive fraud" -- yeah, by INSURANCE COMPANIES. Medicare for all.

[Jacson6]

4. I had a gall bladder removal surgey decades ago.

The insurance bill was $15k but I only paid $1k in medical bills. Insurance does pay for it's self.

[Mark.b2]

5. I'm considering early retirement...

Last edited Sat Jun 27, 2026, 03:26 PM - Edit history (1)

at 55 or 56. I have a couple former coworkers that are 57 and 59 who both retired in December. They both opted to just self-insure. I asked them both why they didn’t get a major medical/catostrophic plan to cover everything over, say, $25k or so. I remember by grandparents having something similar years ago. They said those types of plans are not allowed anymore?!

I wonder how many people have just decided paying thousands in premiums just to go to their GP twice a year isn’t worth it?

[MichMan]

22. "They said those types of plans are not allowed anymore?"

I believe that the ACA prohibited them

[efhmc]

7. Wasn't that the goal?

[Escape]

10. Yes, The Republicans didn't "let" the costs go up..

they orchestrated it.

[King_Klonopin]

23. Bingo!

What do they care if 5 million people have no health insurance?
They stuck it to Obama, and that's all that matters!

Just like they did when they destroyed Obama's nuclear weapons deal made with Iran.
What do they care if the entire region is unstable and the situation is a giant clusterfuck?
They stuck it to Obama, and that's all that matters!

This is what happens when petty, vindictive, man-babies are given the keys to the country.

[bmichaelh]

11. His latest "plan" will lead to more uninsured

I am currently under COBRA.
I live in the a state with a blue governor but a red legislature.
The legislature refuses to plug in the gap like some blue legislatures are doing.
In about 7 months, I am eligible for Medicare.

I am a lymphoma survivor since 1990.
I am in my third remission but require maintenance treatments every 3 weeks.
Cumulatively,. they cost about $1million/year.
The idea that I will go try to get health insurance directly and tell them you will be paying that is a non-starter.
BTW, my cancer center gives them a discount; so it about half that.

Trump does not understand the complexities of cancer care in this country.
He is so incredibly stupid or he is a sociopath and likes people to suffer.

[Bengus81]

14. Five million now and 10-20M in the next year. It will take time for many

to come to the realization there is no way I can afford these massive rate hikes when they keep loading up a credit card more and more each month. Those fuckers in the Republican party OWN this 100%.