The number of North Carolinians enrolling in health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act has significantly decreased this year, with initial sign-ups dropping by over a million. This comes after enhanced subsidies for the ACA expired, making plans more expensive for many people. Nicholas Riggs, the director of the NC Navigator Consortium, attributed the drop to rising costs due to the expiration of pandemic-era enhanced subsidies. The decline is expected to be significantly higher by the end of the year. In 2025, over 975,000 people in North Carolina will receive insurance through the ACA.