Pennsylvanians losing health insurance rapidly
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Stock: Getty Images
More than 10,000 Pennsylvanians are losing health insurance coverage every month, the state's Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace tells Axios.
Why it matters: The Republican-controlled Congress let Biden-era enhanced federal tax credits expire, and costs for ACA plans have spiked since, leading to massive drops in the state's coverage marketplace, Pennie.
By the numbers: Pennie coverage is down to 431,000 as of July 1, executive director Devon Trolley said.
- That's a decrease of 55,000 enrollees since open enrollment ended Jan. 31.
What they're saying: "People making over $63,000 for one person, there is a huge drop-off there. They were paying a couple hundred dollars a month and now, in some instances, they have to pay over a thousand," said Trolley.
- Middle and upper-middle income individuals had previously qualified for enhanced Biden-era subsidies, she said.
Zoom in: Pennsylvanians making about $23,000 a year saw their premiums increase $85 a month on average, according to Pennie data.
- That number was $100 a month for those making about $40,000 a year and $500 for those making about $66,000.
- Check out this map to see the average cost increase by county.
Zoom out: Compared to last year, there are over 5 million fewer people on ACA coverage nationally, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Between the lines: Trolley said there was a three-month grace period when users didn't have to pay, and after that ran out, the drop-offs accelerated.
- "We had people that wanted to hang on for as long as they could," she said.
- She expects more cancellations are coming as people burn through their savings to keep health care coverage.
The other side: The Trump administration says that millions of Americans are fraudulently securing ACA plans they don't qualify for. The administration said it stopped about 1.5 million enrollees from receiving subsidies they did not qualify for and ended or blocked another 1.4 million through February 2026, per HHS.
The bottom line: Coverage typically remains steady past April, said Trolley, but this year was different when enrollees started to free fall that month.
- And Trolley said there are no signs of that slowing down.