{"id":568008,"date":"2026-04-06T14:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T14:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/568008\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T14:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T14:45:08","slug":"120000-pennsylvanians-drop-aca-health-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/568008\/","title":{"rendered":"120,000 Pennsylvanians drop ACA health insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

Lacey Cassidy usually wouldn\u2019t think twice about running around with her kids, trying a new activity or rushing through errands.\n<\/p>\n

But she\u2019s a lot more cautious these days to avoid any possible injuries, even a badly sprained ankle, that might require a doctor\u2019s visit and medical care.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cRecently, we\u2019ve been invited to a bunch of birthday parties and they\u2019re all at a bounce park, right? Which is great. But I\u2019ve been like, okay, I\u2019m not jumping right now,\u201d she said. \u201cI do feel a little more exposed.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

That\u2019s because Cassidy, who lives just outside Reading, Pennsylvania, with her husband and two young children, is newly uninsured. She\u2019s among 120,000 Pennsylvanians \u2013 and counting \u2013 who have cancelled their 2026 health insurance<\/a> through the state\u2019s Affordable Care Act marketplace since November.\n<\/p>\n

Insurance experts say it\u2019s part of the ongoing fallout from monthly premiums skyrocketing as a result of insurer rate increases and the loss of COVID-era federal subsidies, which had once helped lower costs before they expired.\n<\/p>\n

Facing mortgage payments, rising costs of utilities, groceries, child care and other daily expenses, Cassidy said dropping her health insurance was the only option her family had left, even if it makes them vulnerable to unexpected medical bills or debt.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping that I can get through the year and we might find something, you know, a light at the end of the tunnel next year,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n

Patient advocacy organizations and insurance leaders in Pennsylvania say they\u2019re still urging Congress to restore enhanced premium tax credits so that people may see some relief, despite negotiations coming to a standstill after the new year.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe story isn\u2019t over,\u201d said Joanna Rosenhein, director of campaigns at the Pennsylvania Health Access Network<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re going to continue seeing people drop coverage and it\u2019s really important for us to understand why that\u2019s happening.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Premiums spike as daily costs of living rise<\/p>\n

A record number<\/a> of people were enrolled in health insurance through Pennie, Pennsylvania\u2019s ACA marketplace, in 2025. State officials largely credit the federal enhanced premium tax credits, which Congress passed in 2021 along with pandemic relief funds.\n<\/p>\n

The tax credits allowed more people to become eligible for financial assistance.\n<\/p>\n

Cassidy, a stay-at-home mom, and her husband benefitted from the tax credits, which kept their monthly payments low.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt that we had decent and fair coverage for the price that we were paying,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n

However, Congress did not renew the additional subsidies before Dec. 31, causing sticker shock during annual open enrollment this winter.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[2139,97,252,253,127031],"class_list":{"0":"post-568008","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-affordable-care-act","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-health-care","11":"tag-healthcare","12":"tag-pennie"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}