[World Report] Millions of Americans lose health insurance as COVID-19 era subsidies end

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Source: The Lancet

Original: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)00251-5/fullt...

Published: 2026-02-07

Expanded federal subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ended at the end of 2025[2][5]. These subsidies, implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, have lowered monthly premiums for millions of Americans—by 2023 and 2024, 80 percent of enrollees could find a plan for $10 or less per month[5]. Without these subsidies, premiums for eligible participants are expected to increase by 25 to 100 percent[5]. According to estimates, around 4 million people could lose their health insurance[5]. The expanded subsidies helped increase the number of enrollees in the ACA marketplaces from 12 million in 2021 to a record 24.2 million in 2025[5]. It is estimated that the expiration of the subsidies could lead to an increase in the number of uninsured people, which could erase about three-quarters of the decline in the number of uninsured people achieved since the implementation of the ACA by 2024[3].