Americans Face Rising Health Insurance Costs as Subsidy Deadline Looms

Thu Dec 04 2025 13:06:31 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

With health insurance premiums set to spike next year, Americans enrolled in ACA marketplace plans express concerns over their affordability. As Congress debates potential subsidy extensions, many fear financial hardship.

Many Americans, like 52-year-old Dinam Bigny, are struggling with rising health insurance premiums that threaten to increase by $200 next year. A recent KFF survey shows that most enrollees anticipate significant cost challenges ahead if Congress does not extend the enhanced subsidies that have helped mitigate these expenses. Politically, there's bipartisan support for extensions, but disagreements within Congress may hinder progress. Individuals are increasingly worried about their financial stability amid escalating health costs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fifty-two-year-old Dinam Bigny sank into debt and had to get a roommate this year, in part because of health insurance premiums that cost him nearly $900 per month.

Next year, those monthly fees will rise by $200 — a significant enough increase that the program manager in Aldie, Virginia, has resigned himself to finding cheaper coverage.

“I won’t be able to pay it, because I really drained out any savings that I have right now,” he said. “Emergency fund is still draining out — that’s the scary part.”

Bigny is among the many Americans dependent on Affordable Care Act marketplace health insurance plans who are already struggling with the high cost of health care, according to a new survey from the health care research nonprofit KFF.

Most of the more than 1,300 enrollees surveyed in early November say they anticipate that their health costs will be impacted next year if Congress doesn’t extend expiring COVID-era tax credits that help more than 90% of enrollees pay for health insurance premiums, per KFF. The possibility of an extension looks increasingly unlikely.

The enhanced premium tax credits set to expire at the end of this year have been at the center of recent tensions in Congress, with Democrats calling for a straight extension and several Republican lawmakers vehemently opposed to the idea. Their inability to agree on a path forward fueled a record 43-day government shutdown earlier this fall.

KFF’s poll reveals that marketplace enrollees — most of whom say they would be directly impacted by the subsidies expiring — overwhelmingly support an extension. The survey found this group is more likely to blame Trump and Republicans in Congress than Democrats if the tax credits are left to expire.

Enrollees already find it challenging to afford health expenses

The expiration of the tax credits — which a separate KFF analysis found will more than double monthly payments for the average subsidized enrollee — comes as Americans are already overwhelmed by high health expenses, the poll shows.

About 6 in 10 Affordable Care Act enrollees find it “somewhat” or “very” difficult to afford out-of-pocket costs for medical care, such as deductibles and copays. Most also say they could not afford a $300 per year increase in their health insurance costs without significantly disrupting their household finances.

Most enrollees see cost increases on the horizon

Slightly more than half of ACA marketplace enrollees believe their health insurance costs will increase “a lot more than usual” next year, according to the poll. About another 4 in 10 anticipate increases that will be “a little more than usual” or “about the same as usual.”