How Much More Would People Pay in Premiums if the ACA’s Enhanced Subsidies Expired?
KFF November 20, 2024
Enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies lower premium payments for ACA Marketplace coverage by boosting existing ACA subsidies and making some people newly eligible. Enrollees across incomes benefit from these subsidies. For example, low-income enrollees (making up to 150% of the poverty level) became eligible for free or nearly free coverage. Those earning over four times poverty ($124,800 for a family of four), previously ineligible for subsidies, saw their premium payments newly capped at 8.5% of income, eliminating the “subsidy cliff.” Enhanced subsidies have reduced premium payments by an estimated $705 a year for enrollees receiving premium tax credits.
First enacted in 2021 under the American Rescue Plan Act, the enhanced subsidies were renewed through the end of 2025...