ACA Marketplace Enrollment Drops to 23 Million for 2026 Amid Subsidy Expiration

The federal government says about 23 million people signed up for 2026 health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces. This is a drop from about 24.2 million last year, and it’s the first time enrollment has gone down in several years.

• About 15.8 million people enrolled through HealthCare.gov, the federal website used by 30 states.​
• About 7.2 million enrolled through state-run marketplaces in 20 states plus Washington, D.C.​
• Roughly 3.4 million people are new to the marketplaces, while 19.6 million had coverage in 2025 and either renewed or were automatically re-enrolled.

These numbers are for people who picked a plan during open enrollment; they don’t guarantee that everyone will actually keep coverage. To have coverage “effectuated,” people still have to pay their first month’s premium. The data runs through January 15, 2026, for the federal site and January 10, 2026, for most state exchanges, with slightly different dates in a few places like Idaho.

Florida has the most enrollees, with about 4.54 million people, even though its numbers declined compared with last year. Texas also has very high enrollment, over 4.1 million people, and actually grew compared with last year, going against the national trend. California enrolled about 1.9 million people through its own marketplace.

A key reason for the drop is that extra federal financial help for ACA plans ended at the end of 2025. Those enhanced subsidies had kept premiums much lower for many people. Without them, many consumers are now seeing much higher monthly costs, which likely pushed some to drop coverage or decide not to sign up.

The report mainly covers people in standard marketplace “qualified health plans.” It does not count people who are eligible for Medicaid, CHIP, or employer coverage.​

The report also notes that some states (like New York, Oregon, Minnesota, and D.C.) run separate low-cost programs called Basic Health Programs or similar arrangements. These programs cover certain lower‑income adults who would otherwise be in marketplace plans.