By Amina Niasse
NEW YORK, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Affordable Care Act and other individual health insurance plan enrollment fell 18% to 20.5 million members in June, according to health policy research firm KFF, marking the steepest annual decline since 2015 as Americans struggle with rising health insurance costs.
Enrollment was 25.2 million in the year-earlier period, KFF said.
The 2010 Affordable Care Act, passed under Democratic President Barack Obama, created income-based government-subsidized health
plans for individuals, commonly known as Obamacare. Millions have dropped coverage this year after extra COVID-19 pandemic subsidies expired, doubling or even tripling costs for some people.
A previous KFF study found enrollment declined 12% year-over-year in February.
KFF's analysis of the individual health insurance market also includes plans sold directly by insurers and those not regulated by the ACA, such as short-term coverage, a KFF spokesperson said.
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also said in a Wednesday press briefing that about 20 million people currently rely on Obamacare.
KFF said plan members are expected to continue falling off the rolls through 2026. Some 17% of members enrolled in Obamacare plans say they are not confident they can pay premiums through the year, according to a KFF March survey.
Insurers such as Centene and UnitedHealth have flagged rising medical costs in their Obamacare businesses this year. Companies offering the plans asked for a median rate hike of 14% this year, the second-highest increase for premiums in nearly a decade.
Insurers asking for higher payments pointed to a sicker or higher-risk mix of patients enrolled in the plans.
KFF's study analyzed insurer marketplace enrollment reported in regulatory filings.
(Reporting by Amina Niasse; editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)
