President Trump has said it “may be necessary” to extend tax credits for American who buy individual coverage under the Affordable Care Act. In this photo, Trump pardons Gobble, one of the National Thanksgiving turkeys, during the White House turkey pardon ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC on November 25, 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images)
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Health insurance company stocks rose again Wednesday before the Thanksgiving holiday amid hope the Trump administration and Congress can agree on an extension of tax credits for those who buy individual coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
The tax credits, or subsidies, make health insurance premiums more affordable for individuals. They were enhanced by the Biden administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress in 2021, allowing more Americans to buy coverage. The enhanced subsidies, which expire at the end of this year, helped enrollment in the ACA’s individual coverage, also known as Obamacare, eclipse a record 24 million Americans, boosting its popularity to all-time highs.
There remains talk in Washington about a potential two-year extension of Obamacare tax credits, which Wall Street analysts believe would benefit health insurers and their customers. An ABC news report quoted President Donald Trump as saying an extension of the subsidies “may be necessary.”
“Somebody said I want to extend it for two years. I don’t want to extend it for two years. I’d rather not extend them at all,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday night. The ABC report then continued to say that Trump continued talking and said “some kind of an extension may be necessary to get something else done because the unaffordable care act has been a disaster. It’s a disaster.”
A two-year extension is the best option, according to Wall Street analysts who follow the health insurance industry. “We believe this proposal is favorable compared to street expectations of no extension or a one-year extension,” Ann Hynes at Mizuho Securities USA wrote in a report released Tuesday following reports of a tax credit extension.
“This is positive for managed care companies with exposure to the ACA,” Hynes said citing Cigna, Centene, Molina Healthcare, Elevance Health and UnitedHealth Group.
Despite a year that has hit health insurer stocks hard thanks to rising medical claims from a surge of patients seeking treatments and procedures put off during the Covid-19 pandemic, this has been one of the industry’s best weeks of the year. This summer, several health insurers lowered their guidance for 2025 after reporting higher than expected costs.
On Wednesday, stocks of health insurance companies with significant enrollment in individual health insurance plans under the ACA were generally up for the third day in a row.
In late afternoon trading, the price of shares of Oscar Health, one of the nation’s largest providers of Obamacare with about 2 million enrollees, jumped more than 8%, or $1.43 a share, to $18.16 at the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. For the week, the price of Oscar Health shares was up more than 26%.
Meanwhile, the price of shares of Elevance Health, which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield brand plans in 14 states, were up nearly 1%, or more than $2 a share to $338.49. Elevance Health shares have gained more than $20 a share this week. And the price of shares of Molina Healthcare were up more than 7% this past week while the price of UnitedHealthcare parent UnitedHealth Group’s shares were up 5% this past week.
“While open enrollment is well underway, there is still time to protect 24 million Americans from the largest-ever increase in health care costs in 2026,” said Mike Tuffin, president and chief executive officer of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), which includes Oscar Health, Centene, Cigna, Elevance Health and Molina as members.