Pennie officials warn state-based insurance customers could face 81% price hike next year

A record-breaking 496,661 people enrolled in Pennsylvania’s state-based health insurance plans this year, a trend that mirrors historic highs nationwide . Federal data show 23.6 million people enrolled in Affordable Care Act plans across the United States.

But Pennsylvania officials warned this week those record highs also mean more people than ever could face dramatic premium increases — an 81% hike on average — in 2026 if federal tax credits are allowed to expire. “With significant cost increases, most Pennie enrollees will be faced with a difficult decision of how to continue coverage they can't afford or to go uninsured again,” said Devon Trolley, executive director of Pennie, which is Pennsylvania’s ACA program. “Instead of having health and financial security, they face bringing their families back into uncertainty, risk and fear of what happens if they have the misfortune of an illness or injury.



” In 2021, former President Joe Biden temporarily expanded the Affordable Care Act during the COVID-19 pandemic by making more people eligible for premium tax credits and by zeroing out premiums for some people with low incomes. The savings are applied up front during the enrollment process. The expanded tax credits were continued through 2025 in the Inflation Reduction Act.

According to Pennie, Pennsylvania’s health insurance marketplace, 90% of enrollees are paying lower premiums for coverage thanks to the expanded federal tax credits, which have yielded $600 million in annual savings. Since the credits were enacted, enrollment has increased about 50% according to the state. “These additional savings have cut costs in half for Pennie enrollees and made coverage more affordable than ever,” Trolley said during a press conference this week.

“That’s hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians who have been relieved to find they can finally afford coverage.” Trolley also noted that 75% of current enrollees have only ever purchased plans with the premium tax credits in place, which she said raises questions about continued participation without them. According to the state, enrollees could face an 81% increase on average in their monthly premiums beginning in 2026.

Some enrollees could face double or quadruple increases compared to what they pay today. During the press conference, Pennie officials were joined by ACA plan enrollees who said their lives would be upended if Congress declines to extend the enhanced premium subsidies. Tori Baggot, a Pittsburgh-based printmaker, said under her spouse’s employer-based insurance coverage, she would pay a $600 monthly premium.

But with a Pennie plan, she pays less than $200 per month. She said without a low-cost health insurance plan, the “financial burden” of private coverage would require “a second job [or] rethinking starting a family and possibly not being able to afford the care that keeps me healthy as a person with chronic illness.” But making the enhanced subsidies permanent will be costly: The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated that the credits will cost an additional $86.

5 billion in 2026 and $79.5 billion in 2027. And Republicans, who control the White House and Congress, have pledged to reduce government spending while also covering other tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year.

Extending President Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which also runs out this year, has been identified as a key economic priority for the administration. And Congressional cuts to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act insurance appear to be a prime target to fund Trump’s tax cuts, according to a list of tax proposals circulated by the House Budget Committee earlier this month. Meanwhile, a group of state legislators in Harrisburg have introduced a package of bills they claim would “protect the Affordable Care Act from attacks in Washington D.

C.” The bills seek to enshrine a prohibition on denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions; prohibit insurance policies from imposing an annual or lifetime coverage limit; codify the federal essential health benefits into state law; and allow young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance plan until the age of 26. “If these lawmakers in Washington D.

C. want to take away very basic provisions that we fought so hard for, state lawmakers will make sure they are secured in the Commonwealth,” said State Senator Vincent Hughes Wednesday. “We have an opportunity in Pennsylvania to not only protect but advance healthcare for people who live here.

We will not fold.”.