Why Your Marketplace Premium Jumped, and What to Do Before November 1

The enhanced ACA subsidies expired after 2025. Here is what that did to 2026 premiums, who got hit hardest, and the three moves to make before open enrollment for 2027.

If your marketplace premium went up a lot this year, you did not do anything wrong. The rules changed under you.

What actually happened

From 2021 through 2025, Congress paid for enhanced premium tax credits. They capped what anyone paid for a benchmark plan at a percentage of income, and they removed the income ceiling entirely, so households above four times the poverty level still got help. Those enhancements expired at the end of 2025. For 2026 the subsidy formula went back to the original ACA rules: smaller credits at every income level, and no credit at all above the cap.

Who got hit

Households just above the cap. They went from a meaningful subsidy to full price overnight. This is the group calling me the most.
Self-employed people with good years. A strong 2025 income pushed many over the line.
Early retirees drawing from traditional retirement accounts, which count as income.
Everyone else saw smaller credits and higher net premiums, even if they stayed in range.

Three moves before November 1

Get your 2027 income estimate right. The subsidy is based on what you expect to earn next year, not what you earned last year. Self-employed? Use net income after expenses. Retiree? Roth withdrawals do not count; traditional IRA withdrawals do.
Do not auto-renew blind. Your plan rolls into its 2027 version with a new price and sometimes a different network. Pull the new numbers.
Price a private plan next to it. If you are above the subsidy range and in good health, a private, medically underwritten PPO is often cheaper than full-price marketplace coverage, with a broader network. It is not for everyone, and it is not ACA coverage, but for the group that lost its subsidy it is usually the answer.

If you have a condition

Stay on the marketplace. Guaranteed acceptance is worth more than any premium difference, and I will enroll you at no cost and make sure your doctors are in the network.

The fifteen-minute version

Send me your zip code, the ages of everyone on the plan, your 2027 income estimate and any medications. I come back with the marketplace price with any credit you still qualify for, and a private quote beside it. You pick with both numbers in front of you.