By Sriparna Roy

Jan 29 (Reuters) – More than a million fewer Americans have signed up for Obamacare plans for 2026, with enrollment dropping to about 23 million as monthly premiums for many soared due to the expiration of extra COVID-19 pandemic health insurance subsidies.

Total premium costs for subsidized Obamacare enrollees are expected to increase to an average $1,904 for 2026 from $888 in 2025, according to health-research firm KFF.

In 2025, about 24.2 million people had the plans, created by former President Barack Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act. Private insurers, including Centene, Elevance, UnitedHealth offer the plans, which are subsidized based on income, on either Healthcare.gov or state-run marketplaces.

Nearly 3.4 million new consumers signed up for policies, while less than 19.6 million people were returning consumers, according to data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on its website on Wednesday.

According to a poll conducted by KFF, 2026 premium payments were expected to more than double on average. About 25% of enrollees indicated they would forgo health insurance in 2026 if their premiums doubled as expected.

Analysts said they expect the total enrollment to fall in coming months as Americans who were auto-enrolled fail to pay their premiums and are removed from coverage after three months.

“Given the 90-day grace period, which should apply to the majority ACA members, we see potential for strong disenrollment activity during this period, leading to a lower final enrollment number,” said Evercore ISI analyst Elizabeth Anderson.

Enrollment on HealthCare.gov ran through January 15, 2026. State-based Exchange enrollment deadlines vary.

“We believe it is prudent to wait for effectuated enrollment from plans, which is expected in early April, before drawing conclusions on 2026 enrollment,” said Baird analyst Michael Ha.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh and Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

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