Enrollment in Affordable Care Act health insurance coverage decreased by 1.4 million people this year. The decline comes as federal subsidies, which kept health insurance affordable for people who purchase coverage through the federal Marketplace, expired at the end of 2025. The New York Times’ Reed Abelson and Margot Sanger-Katz explain how enrollment is expected to decrease further:
The expiration of the extra subsidies has doubled the amount people will have to pay for insurance, on average. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the result will result in two million more Americans becoming uninsured this year. But other analysts have estimated larger losses of coverage. Adrianna McIntyre, an assistant professor of health policy at Harvard, said she thinks the final enrollment number could drop by several million in the next few months. “I don’t think this is the final number,” she said.
Gideon Lukens of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has a helpful rundown of the health care subsidies, known as enhanced premium tax credits.
Child care costs cause parents to cut back
About 1 in 5 New York City families with children under 12 have been forced to reduce – or stop using entirely – child care services due to high program costs. That’s the conclusion of a new survey from Columbia University. The Washington Post’s Julie Z. Weil and Joanna Slater report:
A similar number said they resorted to an “inadequate” child care arrangement because they had no other affordable options. The research showed that younger parents, those without a college degree and Black and Hispanic parents were more likely to say they experienced at least one form of hardship. Single mothers experienced the most hardship, with 37 percent cutting back on child care, using less desirable child care because of cost or both.
Some cities and states are tackling America’s child care crisis by providing publicly funded programs:
Last week, [New York Gov. Kathy] Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced plans for free child care for 2-year-olds. Publicly provided child care is becoming more common, with nearly half of American 4-year-olds now enrolled in publicly funded preschool, as well as some 3-year-olds. Free care for younger children is less prevalent: New Mexico recently became the first state to guarantee free day care to all households.
State police use force disproportionately against Black people
Louisiana State Police use force against Black people at a higher rate than white people, according to a new report from Innocence and Justice Louisiana. The Louisiana Illuminator’s Greg LaRose breaks down the numbers:
Black residents represent 31% of Louisiana population, yet they accounted for 902 use-of-force incidents involving state troopers from 2022-24, or 60.5% of all recorded … . White residents, who account for 61% of the state population, were involved in 341 or 23%. Another 11% of use-of-force incidents were reported with the race of the suspect listed as unknown, which could mean the disparities could be higher or lower, said Esme Lee, data and community coordinator for Innocence and Justice Louisiana.
Halting federal dollars to sanctuary cities and their states
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his administration will withhold federal funding starting next month for sanctuary cities and the states they are located in. The AP’s Geoff Mulvihill reports:
Trump unveiled the concept this time late in a speech Tuesday at the Detroit Economic Club, without offering specifics. “Starting Feb. 1, we’re not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities, because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens and it breeds fraud and crime and all of the other problems that come,” he said. “So we’re not making any payment to anybody that supports sanctuary cities.”
The new policy would have serious fiscal consequences for New Orleans, which the Trump administration considers a sanctuary city, and Louisiana, which relies on federal funding more than almost any other state in the nation. In the 2023 fiscal year, Louisiana was the only state where more than 50% of its revenue came from Washington.
Number of the Day
8.8% – Share of U.S. workers age 25 and younger in 2025, compared to 14.9% in 2022. (Source: Revelio Labs via the Washington Post)