Months after she signed up for health insurance in mid-2025, Houston resident Mila Clarke ran the numbers and knew Affordable Care Act coverage wouldn't be an option for 2026.
The 36-year-old small business owner couldn't find a plan as inexpensive as the $350-per-month insurance she had in 2025. The COVID-era subsidies that made Obamacare health insurance less expensive expired in December, leaving Clarke and millions of others with sharply higher insurance bills in 2026.
The extra costs were too much for Clarke. In addition to costly monthly premiums, she spent hundreds each month on insulin, an insulin pump, a continuous glucose monitor and medical appointments to treat her Type 1 diabetes.
"I was spending over $1,000 a month just trying to stay alive," said Clarke, a health coach and diabetes advocate who runs the Hangry Woman website.
Instead of signing up for an ACA plan, Clarke married her partner, Greg, in a hastily planned courthouse ceremony on Dec. 1 so she could be added to his corporate health insurance plan.
