This Week

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.

What We Know So Far About 2026 ACA Marketplace Enrollment, Premiums, and Deductibles

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After the enhanced tax credits ended, many Marketplace shoppers shifted toward lower-premium, higher-deductible plans, according to a new KFFanalysis. The average ACA deductible grew by about $1,000 per person in 2026. Marketplace enrollment could fall from 22.3 million in 2025 to about 17.5 million in 2026. Read more →

Also, check out KFF Health News coverage on declining ACA enrollment and the growing number of Marketplace enrollees skipping premium payments. Read the story →

Texas Emerges as Focus of New Trump Administration Actions to Limit Gender-Affirming Care

This analysis explores recent actions the Trump administration has taken to limit youth access to gender-affirming care. Each has a connection to the Justice Department and to the state of Texas. These measures are widely seen as an escalation in this policy area and could add to the chilling effect already characterizing the provision of gender-affirming care.

Also, KFF’s Overview of President Trump’s Executive Actions Impacting LGBTQ+ Health, tracking executive actions since January 2025, has been updated.

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Is the U.S. Stepping Up In the Fight Against Ebola?

This policy watch looks at the major new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, discusses how the U.S. government has responded so far, and describes how the current situation compares to prior U.S. Ebola responses.

Learn more →

Key Facts on Health Coverage of Immigrants

This fact sheet provides an overview of health coverage for immigrants based on data from the 2023 KFF/LA Times Survey of Immigrants, the largest nationally representative survey focused on immigrants and discusses potential implications of incoming Trump administration policies for coverage of immigrants. Read more →

KFF’s Business of Health Podcast: AI: As Much Peril As Promise?

What does AI mean for patients in bed and doctors at the bedside? Host Chip Kahn and guest Dr. Robert Wachter, Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, discuss whether AI will produce a different kind of doctor in the future — a “clinician curator rather than a clinician-diagnostician.” The answer could define the future of medicine and the doctor-patient relationship.

Listen to the episode →

Question of the Week

Last week, 49% of readers answered correctly that, under shield laws, in June 2025 approximately 55% of telehealth medication abortions were provided to people living in states with abortion bans or telemedicine bans.