Protect Our Care is highlighting our policy proposals to fix health care now. This week’s focus is restoring Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits after Republicans ripped them away, allowing premiums to skyrocket for 22 million people. Americans across the country are sick of paying hundreds to thousands of dollars for their healthcare while billionaires get another tax break. As people drop their level of coverage or insurance altogether, uncompensated care costs will fall to hospitals and their health systems, resulting in increased health care prices for everyone. Restoring premium tax credits would allow the nearly 3 million Americans who have dropped Marketplace coverage to afford insurance again. Access to affordable, quality health insurance is paramount for disease prevention, care in times of illness, and avoiding medical debt when accidents strike.
Throughout the summer, Protect Our Care held events nationwide, from small towns to big cities, with local storytellers, advocates, and health care workers. Again and again, in every corner of America, people said the same thing: their premiums are too high, and they can’t wait any longer for relief. Learn more about Protect Our Care’s “Sick of It! Fix Health Care Now” campaign, calling on lawmakers to take immediate action on commonsense solutions that Americans are asking for, here.
People of All Backgrounds are Dropping Coverage Due to Higher Costs. Americans who are self-employed, small business owners, early retirees, or who have experienced sudden life changes such as a job loss, a move, or a change in household size all depend on marketplace plans for health coverage. As premiums have doubled and tripled thanks to H.R. 1, marketplace plans are becoming less accessible for people in these circumstances. Fewer than half of Americans now say they can consistently afford health care, according to June 2026 Gallup polling. 11 million Americans were robbed of zero dollar premiums. Young adults ages 18 to 26 and those over 65 are experiencing the highest rates of enrollment declines in most marketplaces. Losing young people further erodes the risk pool and drives up premiums. Families with incomes less than 100 percent of the poverty line and those over 400 percent of the federal poverty line have also seen disproportionate enrollment losses. These disenrollments are due to higher premium costs and the loss of tax credits.
Employer-Based Coverage Premiums Are Soaring, Too. Every American will feel the effects of the Republican war on health care — even families who receive coverage through their employers. This year, employer-sponsored plans saw premiums rise by nearly double-digits, more than three times the rate of inflation. Some 60% of Americans, roughly 150 million people, are insured through their employers. As Republicans’ health care cuts kick millions off coverage, health systems are bearing the burden of uncompensated care, which will likely shift billions of dollars in additional costs to people with employer-based health insurance. Already, millions of small businesses facing sky-high plan costs are giving up entirely on offering health insurance to employees.
Five Million People Could Lose ACA Coverage By the End of 2026. Since July 2025, 2.6 million people have lost their marketplace coverage due to the expiration of premium tax credits and Republicans’ increased bureaucratic red tape for reenrollment. As costs continue to rise, marketplace coverage could decrease by 5 million people by the end of the year. Disenrollments, when people who are enrolled in health insurance drop their coverage, are up nearly 34 percent compared to last year. Coverage losses are expected to continue through 2027 and 2028, which will cause prices to keep rising. People with marketplace plans can also expect another year of double digit premium increases next year. In 2027, insurers have requested a 15 percent increase in marketplace premiums, after a more than 25 percent increase in 2026. Insurers have directly cited the expiration of premium tax credits as a reason for these price increases.
Meet The Americans Who Have Lost Their Marketplace Coverage
In Florida, Kelly Rose was forced to drop her coverage entirely after her premium skyrocketed to $1,700. She told The Wall Street Journal, “It’s more than my mortgage.” Kelly missed the open enrollment period for her employer’s insurance as she had planned to keep her Affordable Care Act coverage. Now, she is using a Canadian pharmacy to get her asthma medication, which costs $800 a month in the U.S.
In Michigan, Tim Abbas has relied on the Affordable Care Act to access a clinical trial at an out-of-state hospital after he was diagnosed with a stage-four brain tumor. After Republicans ripped away health care tax credits, that plan is now out of reach for Tim and his wife Gina. On his new plan, the hospital is out of network, leading to even higher costs they can’t afford. “(Tim) said, ‘What if I just stop getting care?’ He eventually will be on Medicare, but that’s not until August. He’s like, ‘I’ll just wait until August.’ (Tim) can’t do that. He won’t be alive,” Gina said to ClickOn Detroit. “Sometimes it’s a choice between being able to pay your mortgage or keep your loved one alive.”
In Pennsylvania, Lynn Weidner is cutting costs wherever she can, from downgrading her internet service to making sacrifices at the grocery store to stockpiling prescriptions in case of emergency. Last year, she lived paycheck to paycheck. She said, “This year, without cutting anything out, I will be in the negative.”
In Texas, Inger Perez was forced to choose a lower-priced Affordable Care Act plan with limited coverage and fewer covered providers to fit her budget. She recently had blood work done and is worried about what could come next. “I literally was crying last night because I’m nervous about what I’m going to find out and how much care that is and how much money that is,” she said to Fortune. “I’m terrified that I’ll start a plan of treatment but won’t be able to afford to keep up with it.”
In Wisconsin, Phyllis Jaworski and her family’s premium more than doubled when it jumped to $1,800. As a result, she has had to make cuts. The family looks for sales at the grocery store and weighed whether they can afford their sons’ extracurricular activities. In order to help, Phyllis said they may apply for scholarships or ask their eldest son, who works, to chip in. She said if costs continue to rise, they may not be able to afford insurance next year.