130K Drop Pennie Coverage As Insurance Costs Spike

Roughly 130,000 Pennsylvanians have dropped coverage through Pennie, the state's Affordable Care Act marketplace, in the past five months.

About 1 in 10 Americans enrolled in an ACA plan last year now lack health coverage, per surveys.

The big picture: Soaring insurance premiums, driven in part by recently expired federal subsidies, are pushing enrollment down as higher costs for energy, gas and food strain household budgets.

Catch up quick: Roughly half a million Pennsylvanians receive insurance through Pennie, including those without employer coverage and the self-employed.

Biden-era enhanced federal tax credits introduced lowered costs for Affordable Care Act plans and drove record enrollment in Pennie.

Congress last year did not renew the subsidies largely due to Republican opposition — with some citing a Congressional Budget Office estimate that an extension would add $350 billion to the deficit over a decade.

By the numbers: Pennie premiums rose by an average of 102% across Pennsylvania without the tax credits, per the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange Authority.

During the state's open enrollment period that ended in January, 85,000 Pennsylvanians dropped coverage — nearly 1 in 5 enrollees — and thousands more have left since, per Pennie. More are expected to drop in the coming months.

Pennie saw a 12% decrease in new enrollments from November through January compared to last year's open enrollment period.

It ended open enrollment with 2% fewer overall enrollees than the year prior, or about 10,000 people.

Terminations were highest among older rural Pennsylvanians (ages 55-64) and those with incomes just above Medicaid qualifications, per Pennie's data breakdown.