Extending ACA Marketplace tax credits
Affordable health insurance is on the line for millions of Americans. Enhanced premium tax credits have helped lower health care costs for families nationwide, including about 200,000 Kansans. These credits have helped a record number of Kansans enroll in Affordable Care Act Marketplace health insurance plans.
But unless Congress takes action, these enhanced tax credits will expire. The consequences would be severe.
What’s at Stake?
If Congress lets these tax credits end, 4.8 million Americans could lose their coverage, and premiums for those who remain could more than double. Nearly everyone who gets health care through the ACA Marketplace will feel the impact.
In Kansas, more than 200,000 people get their health insurance through the Marketplace, and nearly all of them rely on the enhanced tax credits to make their coverage affordable.
Because of these credits, Kansas saw its highest-ever Marketplace enrollment in 2024, doubling the number of Kansans enrolled in the last five years. In 2021, about 88,600 were enrolled in coverage; in 2025, about 200,000 were enrolled.
What happens if Congress fails to renew the tax credits?
Without the enhanced tax credits:
- The average Kansan would see their monthly health care costs increase by about 77%.
- Some would face even more dramatic spikes. A 60-year-old couple earning around $82,800 per year could see their premiums increase by as much as 277%.
- Over the next decade, about 108,000 Kansans are projected to lose their Marketplace coverage altogether.
- Even more Kansans will lose Medicaid coverage due to provisions in H.R. 1 (the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill”), driving uninsurance rates even higher.
The enhanced premium tax credits have lowered costs, expanded coverage, and strengthen financial and health security for families in every corner of Kansas.
Congress has the power to renew these tax credits and protect the health and financial stability of millions of Americans, and Kansas families are counting on them to make it happen.
Kansas Stories: Dawn
Dawn and her husband live in Edwardsville, Kansas, which they have called home since 1995. For most of their marriage, Dawn and her husband were self-employed. As small business owners, health care was always a concern. Around 2014, as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) rolled out, Dawn was one of the earliest enrollees to sign up for a Marketplace plan. That decision proved critical. In May 2017, Dawn received life altering news: a breast cancer diagnosis.