Affordable Care Act Premiums Going Up, New Figures Show

Previews from a dozen states show that people will have to pay more for health insurance next year.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), joined by other Senate Republicans, speaks during the 15th day of the government shutdown at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 15, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

Premiums for Affordable Care Act plans are rising in 2026, according to new figures from 12 states.

Premiums are set to increase by thousands of dollars for the average family, according to the data, which were published by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

That includes a $20,700 annual jump for a 60-year-old couple in Oregon and a $32,600 annual spike for a family of four in Vermont with an annual income of $130,000, according to Oct. 20 posts on X by Gideon Lukens, a senior fellow and director of research at the center.

The enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act—former President Barack Obama’s health care law, commonly known as Obamacare—is set to open on Nov. 1 for most marketplaces. Some states have been allowing people to preview plans.

The federal government has not published prices for the 28 state exchanges it runs.

The higher prices stem from Congress not reaching a deal to extend broad subsidies for Obamacare, which are slated to expire at the end of 2025. The subsidies come in the form of refundable tax credits. The credits had for years been available to poorer individuals not eligible for Medicaid or other public insurance, before Congress in 2021 loosened eligibility criteria. Lawmakers extended the broadened criteria in the Inflation Reduction Act.

KFF, a nonprofit that analyzes health data, stated in September that if the broadened subsidies expire, premiums would more than double on average in 2026, from $888 to $1,904.

Americans across income brackets would see increases, although those with little income would see maximum increases of about $82 per month.

The majority of the more than 24 million people enrolled in a plan currently receive the credits.

A man near an office with a sign about the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in Miami, in this undated file photo. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Permanently extending the enhanced credits would increase the number of people with health insurance by 3.8 million in 2035 but add $350 billion to the federal deficit in the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office stated.

Congress is in the midst of a shutdown after parties failed to reach an agreement on a funding bill.

Some lawmakers have been trying to extend the Obamacare subsidies or otherwise alter the health insurance system.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said recently that he is open to discussing Obamacare with Democrats but only if the shutdown ends.

“I will not negotiate under hostage conditions, nor will I pay a ransom,” he said. “Period.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said at a press briefing on Oct. 20 that the parties must find a way to reopen the government with an agreement that extends the Obamacare subsidies.

“In Idaho, 100,000 Americans are at risk of losing their health care if the Affordable Care Act tax credits expire because it will become unaffordable for them,” he said.