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Buying health insurance is about to become even less affordable for millions of Americans, if Congress doesnt act before the end of the year. A set of more generous subsidies put in place as a pandemic relief measure is on track to expire at the end of 2025. If allowed to lapse, premiums will soar for many people who rely on health insurance purchased through marketplace plans under the Affordable Care Act. The looming health insurance premium price hike is known as the subsidy cliff. Millions of Americans who arent offered insurance through work rely on the insurance marketplace and its subsidies for coverage. That includes self-employed, contract and part-time workers, many students and young retirees not yet eligible for coverage under Medicare. If the extended subsidies expire, people with marketplace coverage will see a 75% increase on average for their monthly insurance premium. A helpful calculator from the health policy group the Kaiser Family Foundation demonstrates how dramatic that change might be for American families. In one example, a family of four in West Virginia making $125,000 could go from paying $885 to $2,918 each month an increase that could easily put insurance out of financial reach. Because states have their own rules, income limits and subsidies on top of the federal framework, any pain from newly unaffordable premiums will be felt unevenly around the country. The higher costs could drive an estimated four million people away from the marketplace, sending the number of uninsured Americans up for the first time in years. Marketplace enrollment opens at the beginning of November, so Congress and the Trump administration are on deadline if they want to keep plans cheaper leading into next years midterm elections. Why did marketplace plans get cheaper? Insurance plans under the ACA have always offered subsidies, known as premium tax credits, that make them more affordable for people in lower income households. What is set to expire at the years end is the enhanced set of subsidies put in place as a pandemic relief measure during the early Biden administration. Those subsidies meant that many more households could qualify for help paying their insurance premiums. The expanded premium tax credits both boosted the portion of the premium covered by the government for many Americans and extended eligibility for the credit to households with an income above 400% of the federal poverty guideline, capping premium payments at 8.5% of income. In 2025, a two-person family with a household income of $84,600 or a four-person family making $128,600 could still be eligible for subsidized insurance premiums under the expansion. If the enhanced tax credits lapse, eligibility for the subsidies will revert to their pre-pandemic limits. Households that make between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty guidelines can still qualify, but families with an income exceeding those guidelines would again be on the hook for paying the full monthly premium. Millions of families that signed up with marketplace plans after 2021 may experience sticker shock, having never shouldered the full cost of their monthly insurance premiums. According to KFF data, marketplace enrollees in West Virginia, Wyoming and Vermont are poised for the worst premium price hikes. The two-year phase of enhanced subsidies was signed into law under the American Rescue Plan Act in early 2021 by former President Biden. The discounts were designed to be temporary, making health insurance more accessible during a difficult time for many Americans, but Biden later extended them for an additional three years through 2022s Inflation Reduction Act, his signature legislative package focused on the climate crisis. With the extension, the enhanced subsidies are set to expire before 2026 insurance plans kick in unless Congress and the White House intervene. The number of insured Americans is way up Insurance plans offered through the ACA, also known as Obamacare, have ameliorated the number of uninsured Americans over the last decade. The number of people without health insurance in the U.S. has fallen by 20 million since 2013, the year before the first marketplace plans went into effect. More Americans are signing up for marketplace insurance plans every year, a phenomenon at least partially driven by enhanced subsidies that make the plans more affordable. As of early 2025, 24.2 million people almost 7% of the U.S. population opted for health coverage through marketplace plans for the calendar year. The number of insured people in the U.S. is at historic highs, but that doesnt mean health insurance is cheap. Even with Medicaid and marketplace subsidies, more than 1.6 million low-income Americans still slip into a gap between eligibility for Medicaid coverage and marketplace subsidies. Almost two-thirds of uninsured adults surveyed by the KFF in 2023 said that they dont have insurance because they couldnt afford the cost of coverage. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 4.2 million more people will be uninsured in 2034 if the enhanced tax credits are allowed to lapse rather than made permanent. The CBO estimates that making the expanded tax credits permanent would increase the national budget deficit by $335 billion from 2025 to 2034. Republicans once battled to repeal the ACA, but those efforts were famously doomed by a dramatic thumbs down from the late Senator John McCain. Uptake of marketplace plans has soared since the programs early days, a phenomenon that runs in parallel with the rise of the gig economy, for better or worse. While the Trump administration hasnt been shy about gutting insurance coverage for low income Americans to pay for tax cuts, Republicans are wary about how the subsidy cliff might impact theirodds in the 2026 midterms. The Trump administration did just announce expanded access to low premium, high deductible catastrophic plans for people who dont qualify for marketplace subsidies starting next year, so right now it looks like the cheaper premiums that help millions of Americans afford insurance may not be long for this world.
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E-Commerce
Soon you may be able to book an Uber ride in the skies. On Wednesday, the San Francisco-based ride-sharing service announced it is partnering with Joby Aviation, a company developing electric air taxis, to bring Blades helicopter service to the Uber app as soon as next year. Last month Joby acquired Blade Air Mobility, which flies passengers by seaplanes,` in a $125 million deal, providing Joby with an established network of terminals. The partnership lays the foundation for Joby’s introduction into key urban markets, and for a faster entry into commercial service once its all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircrafts are certified. Last year, Blade flew more than 50,000 passengers in the New York metro area, including to and from Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Manhattan, and the Hamptonsas well as in Southern Europe. As Fast Company previously reported, Jobys all-electric fleet is designed to travel up to 200 miles per hour, with minimal noise and zero operating emissions, with four passengers. The company aims to revolutionize urban travel with faster, quieter commutes and less traffic congestion. Were excited to introduce Uber customers to the magic of seamless urban air travel, Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt said in a statement. Integrating Blade into the Uber app is the natural next step in our global partnership with Uber and will lay the foundation for the introduction of our quiet, zero-emissions aircraft in the years ahead. Together with Ubers global platform and Blades proven network, were setting the stage for a new era of air travel worldwide. Joby successfully completed a series of piloted flights in Dubai back in June, a first for the regions eVTOL aircraft sector. The company plans to launch there in 2026. Uber has been working with Joby to deliver urban air mobility since 2019. Joby and Uber financials Shares in Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE: JOBY) stock soared in pre-and early trading on Wednesday, only to lose much of the early gains. The stock was trading up about 1% by midday. Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) was down over 1%. In its Q2 2025 earnings, for the quarter ending on June 30, Joby Aviation reported EPS (earnings per share) of –$0.24, which missed estimates of -$0.18. Revenue was down 94.6% year-over-year to $0.02 million, coming in below analyst estimates of $0.05 million. Meanwhile, Uber’s Q2 2025 earnings beat expectations, with revenue coming in at $12.65 billion, marking a growth of 18% year-over-year, beating estimates of $12.46 billion. Earnings per share came in at $0.63.
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E-Commerce
Sandwich maker Potbelly is being acquired by the gas station and convenience store chain RaceTrac for $566 million. Potbelly, which was founded in Chicago in 1977, has 445 restaurants across the U.S. The company said the deal with RaceTrac will help it reach its goal of quadrupling in size to 2,000 locations. Potbelly stores are both company- and franchise-owned. With RaceTracs resources, we will unlock new opportunities for this incredible brand while staying true to the neighborhood sandwich shop experience that makes Potbelly special, Potbelly CEO Bob Wright said in a statement Wednesday. Potbelly shares jumped more than 31%, to $17. Sandwich chains and restaurants have struggled in recent years, starting with the pandemic that had millions eating at home when they would usually have dined out. Yet Potbelly’s profits have been rising, and growth in its franchised businesses has been strong. Now it is inflation that is hitting restaurants hard as they pay more for ingredients and customers tighten their belts. At the same time, national chains are being pressured to lower prices, with lower-income customers pulling back on spending and sticking to essentials. McDonalds said this month that it is cutting prices on some combo meals to woo back customers whove been turned off by the rising costs of grabbing a fast-food meal. Some chains have become takeover targets. Daves Hot Chicken was acquired over the summer for $1 billion by a private equity firm. The same firm, Roark Capital, snapped up Subway in 2023 for nearly $10 billion. Roark specializes in franchised businesses and backs two holding companies that own multiple restaurant chains: Inspire Brands, the parent of Arbys, Dunkin, Jimmy Johns, and Buffalo Wild Wings; and Focus Brands, which owns Auntie Annes, Carvel, Cinnabon, and Jamba. RaceTrac was founded in 1934 and is family-owned. The Atlanta company operates more than 800 locations in 14 states. RaceTrac chairman and CEO Natalie Morhous said the company is eager to expand its stable of brands. RaceTrac said it will acquire all of Potbellys shares for $17.12 per share in an all-cash deal. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter. By Dee-Ann Durbin, AP business writer
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E-Commerce
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