Some marketplace premiums could more than double. Employer-based plans are soaring.

My ex-wife is in her annual open-enrollment sprint as an agent, and she’s not reporting that things go well.

Shock and dismay have already begun as Americans face next year’s health insurance costs—and it looks like everyone will be in for some grim numbers.

So far, much of the attention has been on the stratospheric prices that Americans might see on plans they buy from Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Critical tax credits for those plans are set to expire at the end of the year, and, on top of that, insurers have proposed a median 18 percent price increase for 2026. With the higher prices and a loss of credits, some Americans could see their monthly premiums more than double.

In an analysis last month, nonpartisan health policy group KFF estimated that, on average, ACA marketplace premiums would rise 114 percent, going from $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026.

You will pay a fuckload more for worse coverage, and you will like it!

  • swelter_spark@reddthat.comEnglish
    3·
    12 days ago

    Marketplace plans became unaffordable for me years ago. The first year of ACA was great, but the plans were more expensive and covered less every year.

    I think I paid $35 a month that year. After the first year of Covid, the most similar plan that was offered was something like $600 a month.

    I’m wondering if Farm Bureau plans are going to rise dramatically as well, despite not being connected to the ACA.

    • Powderhorn@beehaw.orgOPMEnglish
      3·
      12 days ago

      I looked into ACA plans once after a layoff about a decade ago. Fucking COBRA was cheaper, so I’ve never taken another look.

      • swelter_spark@reddthat.comEnglish
        1·
        16 hours ago

        ACA plans only seem to offer a significant amount of help if you’re employed, or somehow otherwise have a decent monthly income. If you’re unemployed, they’re absolutely unaffordable. They seem to want/expect people with no income to use state benefits.

  • Midnitte@beehaw.orgEnglish
    3·
    12 days ago

    Yep, my premiums went up 20% on the same plan from the same provider.

    Thanks republicans.

    • Powderhorn@beehaw.orgOPMEnglish
      5·
      12 days ago

      Oh, come on … everyone knows that any societal concerns in 2025 are still Obama’s fault. How dare you blame the people currently in power for current events?

  • Boozilla@beehaw.orgEnglish
    2·
    12 days ago

    People are very understandably angry and outraged about the White House being wrecked. This health care problem is going to hit average Americans in the one place they actually care the most about: their pocketbooks.

    It’s tragic we have to do things the hard way every single time, but I am mildly optimistic that the admin continuously doubling-down on reckless stupidity will finally “wake the giant” (as Robert Reich put it) and the public will truly turn on 47 and his goons.

    • Powderhorn@beehaw.orgOPMEnglish
      4·
      12 days ago

      If you want riots, I can’t really think of a more effective one-two punch than taking away SNAP and putting insurance out of reach. The knock-on effects are going to be interesting, though. The line will definitely go down for Walmart.

      • ɔiƚoxɘup@beehaw.orgEnglish
        1·
        11 hours ago

        And we both know riots are exactly what they want. Riots=>insurrection act=>total control.

        Simple as.

        I’ve already seen the line for the local food bank. It was a quarter mile long. It wasn’t that bad during COVID.