Dive Brief:

Initial enrollment in Affordable Care Act plans has remained high despite uncertainty over whether more generous subsidies in the exchanges will continue next year.

Some 5.8 million people signed up for ACA coverage in the first month of open enrollment for 2026, according to CMS data released on Friday. That’s ahead of the roughly 5.4 million signups at about this time last year for coverage in 2025.

The early data seems to rebut worries that ACA enrollment will plummet next year if financial assistance that was expanded during the coronavirus pandemic is allowed to expire. Still, enrollment can shift over a signup period, and the data also suggests that fewer new enrollees are entering the exchanges than last year.

Dive Insight:

The ACA marketplace could look drastic

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