These states are offering extra ACA premium subsidies in 2027

Health care coverage in some states is going to get slightly more affordable in 2027.

At least 11 states are providing funding to Obamacare enrollees to reduce their monthly insurance premiums, which qualifying enrollees should see when they sign up for coverage this open enrollment season.

The move follows a lapse of enhanced federal premium subsidies in 2025 that drove up costs for millions of people who buy health plans on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. The states include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington state.

Most of the states are continuing policies they put in place for 2026, in the aftermath of the loss of the federal subsidies. But Rhode Island and Virginia are debuting their respective programs for 2027, while other states like California expanded eligibility to additional consumers.

Health policy experts said the state funding could help prevent more consumers from dropping their insurance coverage, following a significant drop decline this year. It also comes amid a broader affordability crunch for U.S. households, which voters cited as a top issue in the recent midterm elections.

While enhanced federal premium subsidies lapsed at the end of 2025, there’s still a tranche of federal subsidies — known as premium tax credits — that remain in place. The funding offered by these 11 states comes on top of any federal subsidies consumers may receive.

The amount of financial assistance varies by state, and each state has different eligibility criteria. Many target their programs at lower-income consumers, experts said.

“This was an effort to make coverage more affordable again” for some people, said Louise Norris, a health policy analyst for insurance referral site healthinsurance.org. “It can certainly be significant if you qualify for the help your state provides.”

In many of the states, officials said the move to offer state-funded premium assistance is a direct response to the lapse of enhanced ACA premium subsidies at the end of 2025.

After the lapse of the enhanced subsidies — which had been in effect since 2021 and helped push ACA enrollment to record highs — Obamacare premiums increased by an average of 58%, to $178 per month on average in 2026 from $113 per month the prior year, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.

Democrats pushed to renew the enhanced premium subsidies — the crux of a government shutdown in 2025 that lasted more than a month — but the Republican-led Congress opted not to extend them.

ACA enrollment fell to 19.2 million as of February 2026, a 13% decline from 22.1 million in February 2025, according to figures published in June by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Evidence suggests enrollment has fallen further since then, according to a KFF analysis.

Health policy experts largely attribute the decline to the expiration of enhanced subsidies, since the lapse pushed up costs for consumers.

“Where Congress has failed, Colorado is stepping up,” Gov. Jared Polis said in September in a press release discussing insurance premium assistance. “Despite the loss of the enhanced premium tax credits, we are doing everything we can to keep health insurance prices down so Coloradans can afford access to health care.”

While ACA enrollment declined nationally in 2026, New Mexico was the only state to see an increase in its enrollment figures, growing 14% between 2025 and 2026, according to KFF.

Some states allocated more funding to their premium assistance programs for 2027 relative to 2026.

In California, for example, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, and the California Legislature increased the amount of state funds available for the Covered California State Subsidy Program to $300 million in 2027 from $190 million in 2026, according to a press release on the state’s health insurance marketplace.

Californians with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level in 2027 — $31,920 for an individual or $66,000 for a family of four — will be eligible for a state premium subsidy. In 2026, those subsidies are available for households with incomes up to 165% of the federal poverty line.

As a result of the eligibility expansion, an additional 200,000 will be eligible for financial help who weren’t eligible in 2026, Covered California, the state marketplace, said in a press release.

Massachusetts also increased its investment in financial assistance for ACA enrollees to $620 million in 2027 from $600 million this year — the largest state investment in the country, state officials said in October.

The value of state assistance can be modest for some consumers, depending on factors like their income and monthly premiums, health policy experts said.

For example, in Washington state, ACA enrollees with an income up to 200% of the federal poverty line and who receive a federal subsidy can get a state-funded subsidy of up to $35 per month. Those with an income between 201% and 250% of the poverty line can get up to $20 per month.

That said, states that offer premium subsidies saw a lower decline in ACA marketplace enrollment than in states that didn’t offer any financial assistance, experts said.

“We saw that states in 2026 that did offer assistance had smaller declines in enrollment,” said Justin Lo, a senior researcher at KFF who specializes in the Affordable Care Act. “If the previous pattern continues, we will also see possibly better enrollment retention in states that are more generous with their subsidies.”

It’s not a guarantee states will be able to continue funding these subsidies into the future, experts said.

“Funding is obviously the crux of the issue,” said Norris, of healthinsurance.org. “Whether states will be able to continue to provide funding for these programs really depends on these states’ budgets.”