Changes Coming End of Year Enhanced Premium Tax Credits

Costs May Be Increasing for Pennie Customers
Next Year

Pennie wants to ensure enrollees are informed early and often about cost increases in 2026.

The first customer communication on this issue is a postcard (See screenshot below). It will be sent to households that are receiving advance premium tax credits (approx. 450k enrollees).

Pennie plans to send additional communications and information on this issue throughout the summer and leading up to and during the 2026 Open Enrollment Period.

The postcard will be sent in 4 batches of ~110k each week of May as to throttle the potential questions and calls that you and/or Pennie Customer Service may receive in reaction.

See below for details on what is happening so you can help support customers.

What is happening:

Pennie enrollees receiving financial savings will likely see higher costs in 2026 because enhanced federal tax credits are ending at the end of 2025.

Unless the Federal Government acts to continue the enhanced tax credits, the amount of financial savings customers receive will decrease. This means higher monthly premiums for enrollees in 2026.

Starting January 2026, nearly all Pennie enrollees will experience cost increases if the enhanced premium tax credits are not extended by the Congress.

This does not impact 2025 health plan costs.

Pennie remains committed to helping consumers find the lowest costs on high-quality health coverage.

Background:

Premium tax credits, provided by the federal government, help lower the cost of monthly premiums on health coverage for Pennie enrollees.

Since 2021, the federal government has been offering more generous premium tax credits to make coverage both more affordable and available to more Pennsylvanians than before. These are referred to as “enhanced premium tax credits.”

The enhanced premium tax credits provide over $600M annually to help Pennsylvanians afford health coverage premiums.

Without federal action, these enhanced premium tax credits will expire at the end of 2025. Although this will not impact monthly premiums in 2025, it could mean higher premiums in 2026.

The expiration of tax credits is only for the enhanced premium tax credits that were introduced in 2021. Most enrollees will still receive some tax credits but less than they do now.

If the enhanced tax credits expire, there will still be some tax credits for people who qualify, but the amount will be smaller. Pennie enrollees whose income is more than around $60,000 a year for an individual or around $82,000 for a couple won’t qualify for any tax credits and will pay full price for coverage

Next Steps:

Pennie is committed to keeping enrollees aware and up to date on what is going on with the enhanced premium tax credits. Pennie will send communications for directly to enrollees to keep everyone updated.

Customers should open and read all communications from Pennie throughout the year. Pennie will be sending postcards/mailers, emails, outbound calls, and text messages.

All customer communications will include a link to a customer-facing webpage, pennie.com/costs, which details the increase in costs for 2026.

This webpage can be referenced when customers are asking questions about what is happening with 2026 monthly payments and the enhanced tax credits. This webpage answers:

What’s happening?

How does it affect me?

2026 premium estimator (external link to Kaiser Family Foundation)

What can I do?

What is Pennie doing?

Learn More About EPTC:

To learn more, see full data impacts, and view customer testimonials, visit pennie.com/affordability

This email was sent by: Pennie
PO Box 11873, Harrisburg, PA, 17108

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Pennie® is the official health insurance marketplace for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the only source of financial help to lower the cost of high quality private health insurance plans. Pennsylvanians without access to other health coverage can find affordable health plans through Pennie that meet different needs and budgets. Eligibility for financial help is based on income, family size, and other factors. Pennie is operated by the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange Authority, established under state law.