Insurance premiums through the Affordable Care Act marketplace are expected to skyrocket next year, with plans rising by a median of 15% across 105 insurers, according to an analysis from the health policy outlet KFF.
The expected price increases—the largest since 2018, when President Donald Trump was first in office—can be directly linked to the actions of Trump and congressional Republicans.
Much of the expected increase stems from the fact that Republicans are about to let premium tax credits expire. Those credits were passed in 2021 by congressional Democrats and signed into law by former President Joe Biden. The credits helped 22 million people afford insurance plans in ACA marketplaces.
Once those tax credits expire at the end of this year, people will see a 75% increase in premiums they’d be responsible for, according to KFF. Healthier people who feel they don’t need insurance are expected to then drop their coverage rather than pay astronomically more for it. And that smaller, sicker pool of enrollees would be more expensive for insurance companies to cover, leading to spikes in premium prices.
“Insurers expect a large share of enrollees to leave the market, and that those enrollees will be healthier on average, thus leaving the risk pool sicker on average,” KFF wrote.
Meanwhile, Trump’s idiotic tariffs are also set to spike the price of drugs and medical equipment, which is, in turn, having an effect on insurance premiums.
“The costs of health care services like hospitalizations and physician care, as well as prescription drug costs tend to go up every year, and insurers often raise premiums to cover their increased costs,” KFF wrote.
It’s why the American Hospital Association, a major trade group, has pushed back on Trump’s nonsensical tariffs.
“Tariffs on [medical devices] could impact patient care by jeopardizing the availability of vital medications and essential health care devices. They also could raise costs for hospitals and heighten shortages and supply chain disruptions,” the group wrote in a May 2025 press release about the financial pressure tariffs will put on hospitals.
Already, insurers on some state insurance marketplaces are announcing even higher premiums
For example, the Wall Street Journal reported that Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois wants to implement a 27% increase, while Blue Cross in Texas wants to jack up rates 21%.
Democrats will hang those price increases around Republicans’ necks in the 2026 midterm elections.
“Trump and Republicans are making your health care more expensive,” Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington wrote in a post on X.
We already know health insurance is a powerful issue. It’s largely how Democrats won back control of the House in 2018, after Trump and the GOP unsuccessfully tried to repeal the ACA during his first term.
Now the GOP is once again coming for people’s health care. And they may find out anew how badly that will end for them.