The premium help that expired
Republicans controlled Congress when the deadline passed. The average marketplace enrollee now pays $1,016 more a year.
- Who acted
- Republicans controlled Congress when the enhanced credits expired at the end of 2025. Congress did not extend them.
- Who gained
- No donor beneficiary is established here. This page documents a separate working-family cost.
- What working people pay
- KFF estimates the average marketplace enrollee’s annual premium payment rose from $888 to $1,904 — a $1,016 increase.
- The connection
- The increase followed the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits, not a vote directly raising premiums.
Receipt: KFF premium estimates and CBO’s extension estimate
The enhanced ACA premium tax credits — larger subsidies that helped more than double marketplace enrollment since 2021 — expired at the end of 2025. Republicans controlled Congress. Congress did not extend them.
KFF puts the average marketplace enrollee's premium payment at $1,904 a year, up from $888 — a $1,016 jump. CBO estimates that permanently extending the credits would have cost $350 billion over ten years and kept 3.8 million more people insured through 2035.
This entry does not invent a donor beneficiary. It records a clear choice and a clear household cost: Congress let the help expire, and marketplace families got the bill.
Republicans controlled Congress when ACA premium help expired. The average marketplace enrollee now pays about $1,016 more a year.