Nearly four million people who signed up for Affordable Care Act plans this year have already dropped their coverage after the loss of subsidies resulted in sharply higher costs.
The Department of Health and Human Services released figures Friday that offered the first definitive view of enrollment after the withdrawal of enhanced government support for ACA plans, which ended at the start of this year. The shift boosted many ACA policyholders’ premium bills, in some cases by 100% or more.
A report released by the department’s assistant secretary for planning and evaluation said that an estimated 19.2 million people are enrolled in ACA plans as of February. That would represent a drop-off of more than 16% from approximately 23 million who signed up for ACA coverage during this year’s open enrollment period.
The ACA subsidies were the focus of a political fight that resulted in the longest-ever federal government shutdown last year, with Democrats pushing to retain the payments that they first enacted in 2021. The loss of insurance coverage is likely to be a focus of the November midterm elections.
The HHS report focused heavily on concerns about fraudulent and improper ACA enrollment, which it said represented a significant portion of the growth in policyholders between 2021 and 2024. The report said that Trump administration efforts were stemming improper enrollment.
