28,000 Washington Residents Cancel Health Insurance: What Your Risk Tolerance Reveals

# 28,000 Washington Residents Cancel Health Insurance: What Your Risk Tolerance Reveals

> **Quick answer:** 28,000 Washington residents canceled their health insurance in 2026, a 38% increase over 2025, driven by the expiration of pandemic-era federal tax credits and average premium hikes of $1,000 per year. Research in behavioral economics shows this decision reflects far more than cost math — it maps directly to your risk tolerance personality type, shaped by cognitive patterns like present bias and the affect heuristic.

Washington residents are making a high-stakes gamble with their health. As federal subsidies disappeared and premiums surged by an average of $1,000 annually, 28,000 people on the Washington state health insurance marketplace canceled their coverage in 2026. But how you just reacted to that number — alarmed, sympathetic, or maybe even tempted — says more about your financial personality than any credit score could.

## Washington Residents Cancel Health Insurance: The 2026 Story

The numbers are stark. According to the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, 28,000 state residents who were receiving premium subsidies canceled their coverage in 2026 — up 8,000 from the prior year and 38% higher than 2025. Overall marketplace enrollment dropped from 309,000 to 290,000. Another 61,000 customers switched to lower-cost plans to manage rising costs.

The catalyst was straightforward: pandemic-era enhanced federal Premium Tax Credits expired. When those credits vanished, Washingtonians found themselves staring at an extra $1,000 per year in premiums on average — and tens of thousands chose to go without.