By Brian Hews
Publisher | Follow X
January 2, 2026
Happy New Year. Millions of Americans began 2026 with a financial gut punch that was entirely predictable and entirely avoidable. Enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies expired at midnight on January 1, and with them went the affordability that kept health insurance within reach for working families, the self-employed, small business owners, farmers, and early retirees.
This did not happen by accident. It happened because Republicans chose to let it happen.
The subsidies, first enacted in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, were extended for several years with broad public support. They lowered premiums, expanded eligibility, and capped costs at 8.5% of income, stabilizing the ACA marketplace for more than 20 million Americans. Congress knew the expiration date. Lawmakers had years to act.
Republicans did not.
Instead, GOP leadership slow-walked the issue, refused to bring clean extensions to a vote, and ultimately allowed the subsidies to lapse. Democrats repeatedly pushed to extend the credits. Moderate Republicans publicly warned that failure would backfire politically. Even President Donald Trump briefly floated a compromise, then abandoned it after conservative backlash.
The result is now locked in. According to health policy analysts, subsidized ACA enrollees are seeing average premium increases of roughly 114% in 2026. Millions are expected to drop coverage altogether, particularly younger and healthier people, a shift that will further destabilize the system and drive costs even higher for those who remain insured.
This is not theoretical. Families are already choosing between rent, groceries, and health care. Parents are dropping themselves from coverage to insure their children. Cancer survivors, freelancers, and small business owners are staring at monthly premiums higher than their mortgage payments.
Republicans like to talk about the middle class. This is what suffocation looks like.
In December, the Senate rejected two options: a Democratic bill to extend the subsidies and a Republican alternative that offered health savings accounts instead. The latter does nothing for people who cannot afford coverage in the first place. In the House, a handful of centrist Republicans joined Democrats to force a possible January vote, but even that effort remains uncertain.
The damage, however, is already done.
States like Florida, Texas, and California—home to the largest ACA populations—will feel the impact most acutely. Rural communities, independent workers, and early retirees will be hit hardest. Republicans claim to champion small business owners and personal responsibility. Letting health insurance become unaffordable for millions is neither.
As the 2026 midterms approach, voters should remember this moment clearly. The subsidies expired not because they failed, not because they were unpopular, and not because Congress lacked time.
They expired because Republicans chose ideology over people.
The question now is not whether lawmakers understand the consequences. Americans are living them. The question is whether accountability will finally follow.
Brian Hews~Editor and Publisher