TRENTON—The Department of Banking and Insurance said on April 21 that enrollment in Get Covered NJ had fallen by 68,830 as of April 15, a 14% decline from January's open enrollment total. The fall comes after federal enhanced tax credits expired, forcing enrollees to pay higher premiums or drop their coverage.
State officials attributed the drop primarily to users refusing to pay the higher premiums. The Trump Administration and Congress declined to extend federal enhanced tax credits before their expiration at the end of 2025. The Department of Banking and Insurance projected that enrollees losing those subsidies would face average premium increases of nearly 175%, or more than $2,780 annually.
Among those who remained enrolled, plan selections shifted. Silver plan selections fell from 83% to 68% of active shoppers, while Bronze selections rose from 16% to 31%. Bronze plans carry lower monthly premiums but higher deductibles and out-of-pocket costs, according to the department. The share of consumers paying $10 a month or less for coverage fell from 48% during the 2025 plan year to 11% in 2026.
Complicating the picture, 211,289 enrollees auto-renewed their 2025 plans without actively shopping for 2026. Those consumers did not compare plans before renewal.
DOBI noted in February that grace periods for nonpayment would delay a complete picture of disenrollment until spring. The April 15 count is therefore just a snapshot.
Insurer rate filings and market exits
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey said in its 2026 rate filing that the subsidy expiration would shrink the ACA market as healthier members exit. That would leave the risk pool with less healthy members with higher morbidities, and could lead to still higher rates, the insurer said. The department approved Horizon’s rate hikes of 17% to 18.1% for roughly 245,000 members. AmeriHealth received approval for hikes of 13.5% to 15.5% on about 130,000 members. Oscar, UnitedHealthcare and Ambetter from WellCare received approvals ranging from 4.6% to 18.4%; the statewide average gross rate increase was 16.6%.
Aetna announced in May 2025 that it would exit all ACA marketplaces nationally, including New Jersey, effective December 31, 2025. The decision affected roughly one million members nationwide. In New Jersey, the departure reduced plan choice for 2026. The department offered a Special Enrollment Period through February for displaced Aetna consumers.
State and federal response
Governor Mikie Sherrill called the situation a direct result of federal mismanagement. "Across the board, we are seeing costs skyrocket for New Jersey families as a direct result of the federal government’s mismanagement," Sherrill said in the department’s April 21 announcement.
"While New Jersey is committed to addressing health care costs, Washington has chosen to drive up health insurance prices, resulting in more New Jerseyans losing coverage."
Acting DOBI Commissioner Susan Ochs said the consequences were immediate. “We are seeing the heartbreaking consequences of the federal government’s failure to extend the enhanced premium tax credits for tens of thousands across the Garden State,” Ochs said. “These individuals and families will now be at risk of forgoing important preventative care and left to rely on costly emergency services that they may not be able to afford.”
DOBI and the Attorney General’s Office submitted a comment letter in March, opposing a proposed federal rule that would shorten the annual open enrollment period from three months to nine weeks and raise other enrollment barriers. The comment letter said that the changes would push residents toward inadequate coverage. The proposed rule is separate from the subsidy expiration, but it adds another layer of federal pressure on the state exchange.
New Jersey has invested over $1 billion in state support for Get Covered NJ consumers from plan year 2021 through 2026. State subsidies called NJ Health Plan Savings remain available to households earning up to 600% of the federal poverty level. That is $93,900 for an individual or $192,900 for a family of four in 2026. Eight in ten people who enroll at Get Covered New Jersey qualify for some form of financial help.
Sherrill’s proposed budget does not expand those state subsidies. The budget increases Charity Care funding by $14 million to $83.9 million starting in July. Charity Care is distinct from Medicaid, the federal-state health program for low-income residents, and provides additional financial aid for hospital care. NorthJersey.com reported that the proposed increase would cover only a small fraction of the money lost in separate federal Medicaid cuts.
DOBI awarded $5 million to thirty community organizations serving as Navigators for the 2026 enrollment cycle. The funding was part of a state-funded outreach effort that includes multilingual assistance and broker referrals. The department continues to enroll residents who experience qualifying life events, such as marriage, pregnancy or a move.
No hospital executive or Hospital Association of New Jersey spokesperson issued a public statement on the April 21 enrollment announcement. The association’s president, Cathy Bennett, warned in mid-April that separate federal Medicaid cuts threaten hospital closures, but she did not address the ACA marketplace drop.
Congresswoman Nellie Pou (D-09), whose district includes parts of Passaic and Bergen counties, voted on January 8 to reinstate the enhanced subsidies for three years. Her office said the expiration would hit 42,000 residents in her district. Representatives Jeff Van Drew (R-02) and Tom Kean Jr. (R-07) had previously called for a conservative path to protect the credits. Van Drew voted against the three-year clean extension, calling for a shorter timeline paired with reforms. Kean voted for the three-year extension. No Republican legislator or conservative policy group had issued a public statement on the enrollment drop at time of writing.
Enrollment concentrates in specific congressional districts. The 8th District, which includes Hudson County and surrounding areas, carries the highest ACA enrollment density in the state, with roughly 69,000 people in marketplace plans. About 90% of enrollees there face premium increases this year. In the 9th District, which Pou serves, 92% of marketplace enrollees face higher costs.
DOBI said it will continue to monitor enrollment trends and provide updates.
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Sources
• NJ Department of Banking and Insurance, Press Release, “Cost Increases from Washington’s Inaction Drives nearly 70,000 New Jerseyans to Drop Health Coverage since January” (April 21, 2026)
• NJ Department of Banking and Insurance, Press Release, “NJ Department of Banking and Insurance Provides Get Covered New Jersey Open Enrollment Update” (February 24, 2026)
• NJ Department of Banking and Insurance, Press Release, “NJ Department of Banking and Insurance Releases Final Health Insurance Rates for the Individual Market for Plan Year 2026” (October 27, 2025)
• NJ Department of Banking and Insurance, 2026 Open Enrollment Update Final Snapshot (January 31, 2026)
• NJ Department of Banking and Insurance, Comment Letter to HHS, Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (March 13, 2026)
• NJ Office of the Attorney General, Press Release, “AG Davenport Co-Leads Demand to Reverse Trump Administration Plan That Raises Health Insurance Costs” (March 13, 2026)
• New Jersey Monitor, “69,000 drop NJ marketplace health plans after enrolling” (April 21, 2026)
• NorthJersey.com, “Why some NJ residents suddenly without health insurance” (April 22, 2026)
• Asbury Park Press, “69K in NJ drop health insurance after subsidy goes away” (April 22, 2026)
• NJBIZ, “Nearly 70,000 NJ Residents Drop Health Insurance Due to Higher Premiums” (April 22, 2026)
• NorthJersey.com, “These 12 NJ hospitals are at risk of closing due to Medicaid cuts” (April 14, 2026)
• NJ Spotlight News, “ACA health insurance is set to cost a lot more in 2026” (August 25, 2025)
• NJ Spotlight News, “Van Drew, Kean call for ‘conservative path’ to protect ACA tax credits” (October 22, 2025)
• Politico, “Why Congress failed to reach an Obamacare deal” (February 17, 2026)
• Insider NJ, “Congresswoman Pou Votes to Reinstate the ACA Tax Subsidies” (January 8, 2026)
• ACA Signups.net, “2026 Final Gross Rate Changes - New Jersey: +16.6%” (October 27, 2025)
• Fierce Healthcare, “Aetna to exit the ACA exchanges in 2026” (May 1, 2025)