Most ACA enrollees cutting back on food, household needs to pay for health care: Poll

A little more than half of Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace enrollees reported cutting back on spending for food, clothing and other basic household items to afford health care, which has become more expensive.

In a new KFF poll released Thursday, 55 percent of returning ACA marketplace enrollees said they are already or are planning to cut back on food or basic household items so they can afford health care-related costs, with half of those surveyed saying their health care costs are “a lot” higher in 2026.

“Cut back on food expenses, choose cheaper & fewer dining out experience, watch heat & AC usage even more,” a female 54-year-old enrollee from California told the organization when asked what changes she’s made to afford health care.

Monthly premiums for benchmark second-lowest-cost silver plans rose by an average of 21.7 percent in 2026 after the ACA enhanced premium tax credits expired at the end of last year.

Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said looking at health insurance options for 2026 made them feel worried, 52 percent said it made them feel angry and 46 percent said it made them feel confused.

Roughly 4 in 10 survey participants said they have already or are planning to find an extra job or work additional hours because of higher health care spending. About the same amount of participants reported that their deductibles had gone up this year.

Among surveyed 2026 ACA marketplace enrollees, the vast majority — 78 percent — said they thought Congress did the wrong thing by letting the subsidies expire. Ninety-four percent of Democratic enrollees said it was wrong, while 58 percent of Republicans said the same.