Did your ACA marketplace health insurance bill go up this year? You’re not imagining it.
The average person on marketplace insurance is now paying $178 a month, up from $113 last year. That’s a 58% jump, and it happened because of one thing: extra subsidies that started during COVID finally ran out at the end of 2025.
Those extra subsidies used to cap what you paid for insurance at 8.5% of your income, no matter how much you earned. Now that cap is gone for higher earners, and the discount is smaller for everyone else too.
Some people got hit a lot harder than others. If you’re a 60-year-old couple making $85,000 a year, your yearly cost could be up over $22,000. If you’re a single person making $28,000, you’re looking at roughly $1,238 more a year — and your share of income going to insurance jumped from about 1% to almost 6%.
I didn’t realize those COVID subsidies were temporary until I got my renewal notice. It felt like the government gave with one hand and took back with the other. Suddenly my insurance doubled.
How This Hits Different Households
This health insurance bill increase doesn’t land the same way for everyone. Younger, healthier people who barely used their coverage last year are often the ones giving up on marketplace plans entirely, since the math stops making sense when the subsidy shrinks. Older adults and people with ongoing health conditions tend to keep paying, even at the higher price, because going without coverage is riskier for them. That split matters, because it means the people leaving the marketplace are often the ones insurance pools need to stay affordable for everyone else — which can push next year’s health insurance bill even higher for the people who stay.
| Income Level | Age | 2025 Monthly Cost | 2026 Monthly Cost | Annual Increase | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $28,000/year | Single | ~$104 | $242 | +$1,656 | 6% of income |
| $85,000/year | 60-year-old couple | ~$1,833 | $1,833+ | +Varies | May exceed $22K |
| $50,000/year | 35-year-old | ~$144 | $250 | +$1,272 | 3% of income |
| Bronze Plan | All ages | $100 | $120 | +$240 | High deductible |
It’s Not Just the Monthly Bill
Money isn’t the only thing that changed. Deductibles — the amount you pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in — hit a record $3,786 this year, up 37%. A lot of people responded by switching to cheaper “bronze” plans with lower monthly costs but much higher deductibles. That’s a real trade-off: less out of your paycheck now, more risk if you actually get sick.
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And here’s the part that worries me most: about 4.8 million people just stopped having marketplace coverage altogether. Some couldn’t afford the new price. Some just gave up and decided to go without. Nearly half of everyone who left was between 18 and 34 — young, usually healthier, people who often think they can go without insurance until something goes wrong.
Going without coverage entirely carries its own risk. A single emergency room visit or a short hospital stay can cost more than a full year of premiums, so dropping this health insurance bill to zero isn’t automatically the safer financial move, even when it feels like the cheaper one in the moment.
If you’re one of the people paying more right now, you’re not alone, and you’re not doing anything wrong. This wasn’t a personal budgeting mistake. It was a policy decision made in Washington, and it landed on real people’s bank accounts.
It also helps to know this isn’t permanent by law — subsidy levels are the kind of thing Congress can extend, shrink, or let expire again depending on future votes. That means the exact numbers in this article could shift again next year, in either direction. Checking your marketplace account each fall during open enrollment, instead of assuming last year’s plan and price are still the best option, is the one habit that protects you regardless of which way policy moves next.
This isn’t about cutting back on lattes or skipping dinner out. This is structural. People making $50K a year watching 3% of their entire income go to insurance — that’s not a personal finance problem, that’s a system problem.
Framing it that way matters because the usual budgeting advice — cut the small stuff, shop around, be more careful — doesn’t fix a bill that grew for policy reasons, not spending reasons.
Related read: Your Paycheck Isn’t Keeping Up With Inflation (And That’s Not Your Fault)
Track Your Own Premium Costs With a Free Tool
Before you decide what to do, write down exactly what you’re paying now versus last year. A free spreadsheet works fine for this — list your monthly premium, your deductible, and what you actually used in care last year. Many Americans skip this step and end up guessing whether a cheaper plan would actually save them money, when a ten-minute comparison using their real numbers would give a clear answer either way.
What You Can Actually Do About It
So what can you actually do about it? A few real options: check if you qualify for a cheaper bronze or catastrophic plan if you’re generally healthy and just need protection from a worst-case bill. Check if your state runs its own marketplace with extra state-level subsidies (some states added their own money to soften this). And if your income dropped or changed this year, report it — your subsidy is based on estimated income, and a correction could lower your bill.
Many Americans in this spot make the mistake of just accepting the new number without checking anything first. A ten-minute call to the marketplace or a broker can sometimes turn up a plan with a different network or a lower deductible that fits the budget better, even if the sticker price looks similar at first glance.
Share your number if you’re comfortable. Seeing what other families are actually paying tends to be more useful than any single average.
Did your premium go up this year? Did you switch plans, or did you drop coverage? I’d really like to know how this hit your own numbers.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and should not be considered as medical or health insurance advice. Insurance plans, subsidies, and coverage vary by state and individual circumstances. Consult with a qualified insurance agent or healthcare professional before making insurance decisions.
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