Madrinas Insurance is a licensed insurance agency. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by the federal government or any state marketplace. Figures cited here come from public federal marketplace enrollment reports and independent health policy research and reflect the 2026 plan year; program rules and enrollment dates continue to change, and several provisions are the subject of ongoing litigation, so confirm current details on your official state or federal marketplace site. Plan availability, premiums, and savings vary by plan, carrier, service area, age, and financial-assistance eligibility. This is a solicitation for insurance. Language assistance services are available free of charge.
Quick Answer: About 23.0 million people selected marketplace coverage for 2026, down from roughly 24.3 million a year earlier, the first decline in seven years. The enhanced premium tax credits that ran from 2021 through 2025 expired at the end of 2025, the 400 percent poverty-level subsidy cliff returned, and shoppers shifted noticeably toward lower-premium Bronze plans.
Enrollment numbers usually make dull reading. This year they tell a story, because 2026 was the first year since 2018 that fewer people signed up than the year before, and the reasons are specific rather than mysterious.
Here are the figures that matter, what each one means for an ordinary household, and the part that gets lost in the coverage: what still exists and is still worth claiming.
What You Will Learn
- The headline number, and how it compares with last year
- How enrollment split between the federal and state marketplaces
- What expired at the end of 2025, and what did not
- The shift toward Bronze, and the record low that came with it
- Which states held up better, and why that pattern matters
- What all of it means if you are shopping now
The Headline Number
About 23.0 million people selected marketplace coverage for 2026, compared with roughly 24.3 million for 2025. That is a decline of about five percent, and the first drop after seven straight years of growth. Roughly 3.4 million of those enrollees were new to the marketplace, with the rest returning or automatically re-enrolled. The reversal is not mysterious: the financial help changed.
Federal Versus State Marketplaces
The total splits into two systems. About 15.8 million selections came through HealthCare.gov, which serves 30 states including Florida and Texas, and about 7.2 million came through the 20 states and the District of Columbia that run their own marketplaces, including Georgia, New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky. That division is the reason a national enrollment deadline does not exist: each system sets its own calendar.
What Expired, and What Did Not
The enhanced premium tax credits enacted in 2021 expired on December 31, 2025, and Congress has not restored them. Two consequences followed. The subsidy cliff at 400 percent of the federal poverty level returned, meaning households above that line receive no premium tax credit, and households below it generally pay a larger share of income than they did from 2021 through 2025. What did not expire is the original tax credit itself, which still exists for households between 100 and 400 percent of the poverty level, along with cost-sharing reductions on Silver plans. Less help is not no help, and that distinction is where most of the confusion lives.
The Shift Toward Bronze
When help shrinks, shopping behavior changes. Bronze plans rose from about 30 percent of selections in 2025 to about 40 percent in 2026, as households traded lower monthly premiums for higher costs at the point of care. At the same time, the share of consumers choosing a cost-sharing reduction plan fell to its lowest level on record, around 37 percent, and research suggests many people who were eligible for that extra help chose plans that could not carry it. That is the expensive detail in this year’s data: help left unclaimed on the table, one Silver plan away.
Which States Held Up Better
Enrollment fell in every state except New Mexico, but not evenly. States running their own marketplaces saw a smaller average decline, roughly six percent, compared with about fifteen percent for states on the federal platform, and several of those states had put their own affordability programs in place. It is a reminder that where you live shapes what is available to you, which is exactly why a national article can never answer your question about your own household.
What This Means If You Are Shopping Now
- Do not price from memory: the help changed, so a number you remember from 2024 or 2022 describes a system that no longer exists.
- Run the estimate anyway: the original credit and cost-sharing reductions still exist, and eligibility depends on household size and income, not on assumptions.
- Give an honest income number: repayment rules tightened, so an inaccurate estimate can create a larger bill at tax time than it used to.
- Give Silver a fair look: cost-sharing help attaches only to Silver plans, and last season many eligible households missed it by choosing on premium alone.
How a Madrinas Madrina Helps
Numbers describe a market; a madrina describes your household. A Madrinas madrina runs your estimate under the current rules, tells you plainly whether cost-sharing help applies to you, compares finalists on what a full year would actually cost, verifies your doctors and medicines in each plan’s own lists, and completes the enrollment with the first payment explained. The consultation is free, in English and Spanish, seven days a week. Every life change deserves a madrina. Call 855-MADRINA to get started.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did subsidies go away completely?
No. The temporary enhanced credits from 2021 through 2025 expired, but the original premium tax credit remains for households between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level, and cost-sharing reductions still lower deductibles and copays on Silver plans for qualifying incomes. The help is smaller for many households, not absent.
What is the subsidy cliff, and is it back?
It is the hard income cutoff at 400 percent of the federal poverty level, above which a household receives no premium tax credit. The enhanced credits had removed that cliff from 2021 through 2025; with their expiration, it applies again. Because the cutoff is sharp, households near the line should estimate income carefully.
Why did so many eligible people miss the cost-sharing help?
Because it is invisible if you sort by monthly premium. Cost-sharing reductions attach only to Silver plans, so a household that picks the cheapest Bronze premium can walk past reduced deductibles and copays without ever seeing them. Checking eligibility first is what prevents that.
How much does help from Madrinas cost?
Nothing: the consultation is free, and plan prices are the same with or without our help. What you get is a current estimate under current rules, rather than a guess based on a year that no longer applies.
Key Takeaways
- About 23.0 million people selected 2026 marketplace coverage, down from roughly 24.3 million, the first decline in seven years.
- Roughly 15.8 million enrolled through HealthCare.gov and 7.2 million through state-run marketplaces, which set their own calendars.
- The enhanced credits expired at the end of 2025 and the 400 percent poverty-level cliff returned, but the original credit still exists.
- Bronze selections rose from about 30 to about 40 percent as households traded monthly savings for higher costs at the point of care.
- Cost-sharing plan selection hit a record low near 37 percent, meaning many eligible households left that help unclaimed.
- Enrollment fell in every state but New Mexico, and state-run marketplaces declined less than the federal platform.
The rules changed. Your estimate should too, and it is free.
★ Your Health, Our Purpose
A Madrinas madrina will run your numbers under the current rules, check whether cost-sharing help applies to you, and complete your enrollment, all for free, in English and Spanish. Every life change deserves a madrina. Call 855-MADRINA (855-623-7462), available seven days a week.
Madrinas Insurance · madrinasinsurance.com · 855-MADRINA (855-623-7462)
