Premium Tax Credits: A Stabilizing Force for the Individual Market

The latest data suggest the individual insurance market is weathering attempts by the Trump administration and Congress over the past year to weaken it. These actions include the repeal of the tax penalty for going without insurance; ending payments owed to insurers for limiting low-income enrollees’ cost-sharing; promoting the sale of health plans designed to cherry-pick the healthiest and youngest enrollees; and ending most federal funding for efforts to inform Americans about their insurance options.

Despite these steps, enrollment in the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) marketplaces is higher in 2018 than last year, as the administration itself reported in July. In addition, a new analysis by Matt Fiedler of the Brookings Institution finds that this year is...