About 15% fewer Oregonians signed up for Affordable Care Act insurance plans in 2026 than in 2025, one of the largest drops in the nation, according to a WW review of federal data released this week. <\/p>\n
The Affordable Care Act marketplace offers regulated\u2014and often subsidized\u2014private health insurance to people who don\u2019t receive it in more common ways, such as through their employer, the Oregon Health Plan, or Medicare.<\/p>\n
The enrollment dip comes as health insurance premiums have surged across the board and state lawmakers head to Salem looking to contain costs. It also comes after Congress let enhanced subsidies for the ACA health insurance plans expire, meaning many middle-class Americans in particular saw big rate hikes this year.<\/p>\n
Sticker shock was widely expected to make many people less likely to purchase health insurance on the marketplace. And with the Jan. 15 close of the 2026 open enrollment period, new preliminary federal data<\/a> suggests that, indeed, fewer people thought buying a ACA plan this year was worth it. <\/p>\n Just under 23 million Americans enrolled on ACA plans during the latest open enrollment period, a 5% dip from the 24.2 million who signed up during the same period last year. <\/p>\n It\u2019s the first drop in marketplace enrollment in years, although nationwide enrollment remains well above historic levels, following a surge since 2020, when just 11.4 million people were signed up for ACA plans, according to the health research group KFF.<\/p>\n Oregon, which has a achieved a relatively high rate of overall health insurance coverage, has followed a different pattern. It\u2019s ACA enrollment hovered around 140,000 for years, before dipping this year to 118,000.<\/p>\n The 15% drop is the seventh largest in the nation, according to the WW review, behind North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Delaware and Arizona. (Washington state saw an 8% dip.)<\/p>\n