Americans In All 50 States Brace For Massive Increase In Health Insurance Costs As Republicans Continue To Refuse to Address Crisis

Washington, D.C. – As President Trump and Congressional Republicans continue to refuse to work with Democrats to address the looming healthcare crisis, Americans in all 50 states brace for massive increases in health insurance costs due to the expiring ACA tax credits. Democrats remain committed to negotiating with Republicans to end the shutdown and lower costs for all Americans:

ALABAMA

The Decatur Daily: Alabamians brace for end of ACA tax credits. During the last few months of the year, Virginia Hutchinson is trying to get in as many medical appointments as she can in case her insurance premiums rise next year as she expects. As an administrative assistant at a small, family owned business in Birmingham, the Affordable Care Act marketplace allows Hutchinson to have health insurance she wouldn’t have been able to receive otherwise. She also benefits from the enhanced premium tax credits, which save her nearly $300 per month. Hutchinson opted for a gold plan because of her medical needs. She currently pays a little over $380 a month for a plan that would cost her about $656 without the credits. So now, she’s grappling with the possibility of being unable to afford as comprehensive a plan next year because the enhanced tax credits, put in place under the American Rescue Plan in 2021, are set to expire at the end of 2025 unless Congress acts. [The Decatur Daily, 10/1/25]

ALASKA

Public News Service: Alaska small businesses face losing health insurance. Small business owners in Alaska say they're threatened by federal spending cuts and the proposed elimination of health care premium subsidies. The state is largely dependent on federal funding for many parts of its economy, especially the health care industry. Cuts to Medicaid funding under Trump's budget reconciliation bill are already leaving Alaska children without access to basic health care, and causing rural hospitals to close. Now, lawmakers are also considering ending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies as they negotiate a government shutdown. [Public News Service, 10/12/25]

ARIZONA

The Arizona Mirror: Almost 400k Arizonans will pay more for health insurance if Republicans don’t extend credits. Nearly 400,000 Arizonans pay less each month for health insurance because of premium tax credits from the federal government as part of the Affordable Care Act, but the funding for those credits is set to expire at the end of this year. President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are so far refusing to extend them. [Arizona Mirror, 9/23/25]

ARKANSAS

KARK: Affordable Care Act hikes set to impact 166,000-plus Arkansans. A combination of rate hikes and the potential loss of federal subsidies has left more than 166,000 Arkansans facing a substantial increase in their Affordable Care Act coverage. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, was enacted in 2010 and implemented in 2014. Arkansan enrollment in the program remained relatively stable until 2021 at roughly 70,000 on average, when it began climbing to its current rate of 166,639 individual enrollees, according to KFF data drawn from government resources. [KARK, 10/13/25]

CALIFORNIA

San Francisco Chronicle: Californians may get a price shock this week on health insurance. Covered California and other Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplaces will soon have to send out formal open enrollment letters, notifying enrollees precisely what to expect for 2026 coverage. California this week plans to notify Affordable Care Act marketplace enrollees that their costs could rise sharply next year unless Congress extends subsidies to help people buy health insurance. Health care analysts say the nation’s uninsured population will rise significantly if federal lawmakers do not agree to renew COVID-era tax credits, which Congress authorized in 2021 to supplement ACA subsidies. [San Francisco Chronicle, 10/14/25]

COLORADO

KOAA News 5: Insurance commissioner says Coloradans are about to make “scary” choices if Congress doesn’t act on healthcare. At the heart of the government shutdown are Democrats' demands on healthcare, including an extension of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies set to expire at the end of the year. Estimates nationwide show health insurance premiums are expected to more than double, with subsidized enrollees spending over $1,000 more next year on average, according to independent health policy group KFF. Coloradans using the open marketplace are facing a 170% average premium increase next year, said the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative. [KOAA News 5, 10/13/25]

CONNECTICUT

CT Mirror: Expiring federal health subsidies could cost CT $295M to make up. Gov. Ned Lamont and governors from 17 other states are calling on congressional leaders to extend federal subsidies that help more people afford health coverage through state-based insurance exchanges like Access Health CT. The subsidies, known as enhanced premium tax credits, are set to expire at the end of the year. If they do, states will have to pick up the cost — or individuals will pay significantly more for health coverage. [CT Mirror, 9/16/25]

DELAWARE

Delaware News Journal: Delaware insurers seek double-digit premium increases for 2026. Delaware residents who rely on the Affordable Care Act marketplace could see some of the steepest premium hikes in the country next year. [Delaware News Journal, 9/10/25]

FLORIDA

Tallahassee Democrat: Health insurance costs poised to soar in Florida without Obamacare tax credits. The congressional deadlock over the future of Obamacare subsidies is casting deep shadows over Florida, which is poised to see huge increases in health insurance costs next year for 4.7 million residents. Many are expected to drop coverage completely. Twenty private insurance companies participating in the Affordable Care Act marketplace are seeking an average rate increase of 34%, according to data presented Oct. 14 by the Office of Insurance Regulation to a state House panel. The cost spike stems from the expected end of premium tax credits at the end of this year. In Congress, Democrats are demanding an extension of these credits, which Republicans are refusing, leading to a federal government shutdown now in its third week. [Tallahassee Democrat, 10/15/25]

GEORGIA

WGXA: Government shutdown threatens to triple health care costs for millions. As the government shutdown continues, more than 20 million people across the country could see their health care insurance costs increase up to 600% with 90% of it impacting rural areas due to the potential expiration of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credit. Congress is currently debating whether to extend this credit. Bobby Kogan, a senior policy director with the Center for American Progress, warned of the consequences if the credit expires. “It’s going to push millions of people off of their healthcare insurance because they can't afford it anymore," Kogan said. The ACA tax credit is set to expire by the end of the year, and Kogan emphasized the urgency of congressional action. [WGXA, 10/9/25]

HAWAII

Hawai’i Public Radio: U.S. Sen. Hirono on efforts to end the government shutdown. The Republicans have not sat down with us yet, so until they do, they apparently are going to stay in hiding, especially in the House. They're not even in session because the speaker doesn't want his House members to have to be confronted by the problem by their own constituents, who I'm sure by now are contacting their Republican members to say, ‘What's going on?’ because they are getting their notices of increases in their premiums. And these notices are going to indicate health care, Affordable Care Act premiums, going up from, say, $500 for a family of four to $1,000 a month. [KHRP, 10/6/25]

IDAHO

The Sentinel: ‘People are going to die’: Idahoans fear spike in insurance costs. “At 59, Susan Wood, a longtime Boise, Idaho, resident, was too young to qualify for Medicare when she retired in July. So she signed up for a marketplace plan under the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare.” … “Wood said she’d be on the hook for her plan’s full $700 monthly premium without the subsidies. Those payments would surpass what she spends on her mortgage or on food. [The Sentinel, 10/8/25]

ILLINOIS

Journal-Courier: The health care emergency behind the government shutdown. Health care access in this country is in grave danger — and your wallet could be, too. Those facts are key to understanding the latest government shutdown. “My kids have health care through Medicaid — which is especially important for my daughter with autism,” Alexis Cortes, a mom of four, told me. But “the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ calls for massive cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, and early childhood education programs." Also at issue are the 24 million Americans who benefit from the soon-to-expire tax credits that help them afford their health coverage on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. When Republicans passed their tax cuts for billionaires and corporations in this summer’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, they intentionally left out renewing this credit that helps regular people afford health care. As a result, according to KFF Health, not only could the 24 million ACA users see a doubling of their premium costs, but most Americans could see their premiums rise if this tax credit isn’t renewed. [Journal-Courier, 10/14/25]

INDIANA

Indianapolis Business Journal: Doctors, advocates brace for potentially 'tragic' premium increases. Five Indiana marketplace insurers—Anthem, UnitedHealthcare, CareSource, Cigna and Coordinated Care Corp.—will hike premiums an average of 31.4% effective Jan. 1 under plans recently approved by the Indiana Department of Insurance. That’s up sharply from an average 3.35% increase across four marketplace providers last year. Nationally, the 312 insurers participating in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces from the 50 states and the District of Columbia will hike premiums about 18%, the highest increase since 2018, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health care research organization. Only four insurers have proposed decreasing premiums. The steep increase is raising alarms with doctors, hospitals and patient advocates, who say the higher prices could throw tens of thousands of Hoosiers into the ranks of uninsured. [Indianapolis Business Journal, 9/30/25]

IOWA

Cherokee Chronicle Times: Rising costs and cuts to coverage under GOP leadership. Politicians in Washington, D.C., are getting ready to shut down the federal government once again, despite single-party Republican control of the House, Senate and the Presidency. This time, health care costs and access is the sticking point, preventing lawmakers from getting to an agreement that would keep critical services going without interruption. Earlier this year, the Republicans passed and President Trump signed a massive bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), that extended trillions of dollars in tax breaks that would otherwise have expired this year. The lion’s share of those tax breaks will go to wealthy households making over $400,000 a year and to large corporations through extra loopholes that were reinstated in the law. But in this vast tax giveaway, the GOP omitted one critical tax benefit that over 20 million Americans need to lower their health costs: premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage. [Cherokee Chronicle Times, 10/2/25]

KANSAS

Kansas Reflector: Kansas governor says health care cuts will have ‘disastrous effects’ if Congress can’t reach deal. Gov. Laura Kelly warned Wednesday that the loss of Affordable Care Act Marketplace tax credits will have “disastrous effects” on health care unless they are restored by Congress before enrollment begins Nov. 1. Her remarks came as a new report predicts 108,000 Kansans will lose their Marketplace coverage because of provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Donald Trump signed into law earlier this year. [Kansas Reflector, 9/24/25]

KENTUCKY

Kentucky Lantern: Price spikes set to leave thousands of Kentuckians without health insurance, advocates say. While some Kentucky Republicans in Congress accuse Democrats of shutting down the government to get “free health care for illegal aliens,” advocates are warning that thousands of U.S. citizens in Kentucky will no longer be able to afford health insurance next year. Democrats in D.C. are pushing Republicans to take action now to ease premium spikes that stem in part from policies signed into law by President Donald Trump earlier this year. Republicans insist the health care issues should be negotiated after Congress passes a funding bill to reopen the government. In Kentucky, health insurance rates are set to increase by as much as 37% for individuals and 18% for small groups, according to data from the state Department of Insurance. [Kentucky Lantern, 10/1/25]

LOUISIANA

The Times-Picayune: At center of shutdown fight, Louisiana health care at stake. The federal government shut down last week, and at the heart of the standoff is a fight over the health insurance subsidies that keep coverage affordable for hundreds of thousands of Louisianans. These enhanced premium tax credits lower the monthly cost of health insurance for people who buy coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. The enhanced subsidies were first introduced during the pandemic under the American Rescue Plan Act and later extended through 2025. They allow some low-income enrollees to pay no monthly premiums and cap costs for middle-income households at 8.5% of their income. [The Times-Picayune, 10/7/25]

MAINE

Maine Public: As health insurance rates skyrocket, Maine officials urge Congress to extend tax credits. The roughly 115,000 Mainers who get health insurance in the individual and small group markets will see skyrocketing rates next year. The Maine Bureau of Insurance has approved an average increase of nearly 24% for the individual market and nearly 18% for small groups, which is for businesses with 50 or fewer employees. Superintendent Bob Carey says the bureau was able to shave a few percentage points off insurers' proposed rates. But he says high medical and prescription costs, as well as uncertainty around federal policies, are driving the increase. "I'm wildly concerned," Carey says. "This is a major change in the cost of health insurance for Maine people, and I'm afraid thousands of people will simply be unable to afford the increase." For example, Carey says, a 60-year-old couple making about $90,000 a year could be paying $25,000 a year for health insurance. "That's untenable," he says. "I don't know how people can afford to do that. So I'm afraid with these increases that we'll have more people uninsured and those people show up in hospitals and emergency rooms and have to be cared for, and it's just not a good situation." Carey says congressional lawmakers could provide relief to consumers by extending enhanced premium tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year. "Just as they have extended the first Trump tax cuts because they felt otherwise it would be a tax increase, not extending these enhanced premium tax credits will essentially mean a tax increase for 60,000-plus Mainers," Carey says. "So, Congress could still act and I would just encourage them to do so." [Maine Public, 9/4/25]

MARYLAND

WMAR 2 News Baltimore: Maryland families face potential loss of affordable healthcare as federal subsidies set to expire. Thousands of Maryland families who rely on the Affordable Care Act marketplace for healthcare coverage could see premium increases if federal tax credits expire at the end of 2025. The enhanced subsidies, which began in 2021, have allowed the lowest income earners to access coverage for as little as $1 per month. Without congressional action, these families could lose their affordable healthcare options entirely. "They are very important for these folks to keep them on the healthcare they need. They're set to expire at the end of this year. We are hoping that Congress will continue them," Vincent DeMarco of Maryland Health Care for All said. [WMAR 2 News Baltimore, 9/17/25]

MASSACHUSETTS

CommonWealth Beacon: Massachusetts braces for ‘gut punch’ of health insurance costs if Congress fails to act. Massachusetts is already bracing for significant health care disruptions stemming from Republicans’ sweeping tax bill that cuts Medicaid funding, and policymakers are worried that even more residents will soon feel added strain because of federal inaction. A pandemic-era tax credit that has helped millions of Americans pay for health insurance is set to expire at the end of the year. Many Democrats, joined by state marketplace administrators and activists, are mounting an all-out blitz in support of extending the Biden-era aid as the threat of a federal government shutdown fast approaches. But Republicans who control Congress so far have not indicated they plan to extend the so-called “enhanced premium tax credits,” at least not as part of a funding bill to keep government open past September 30. That deadline might be the last, best chance for supporters to get the tax credits renewed. [CommonWealth Beacon, 9/26/25]

MICHIGAN

Michigan Independent: Michigan mom says Medicaid means life or death for her son. Kathy MacKercher lives in Michigan with her partner, James Avis, and their two teenage sons, Desmond and Quinn. Quinn suffers from two life-threatening illnesses. Without Medicaid coverage, Quinn’s family would be unable to afford his medical care or access the lifesaving treatment he’s currently in need of. According to the Center for American Progress, President Donald Trump’s sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act will result in cuts to federal Medicaid spending of about $1 trillion over the next 10 years. Medicaid beneficiaries include lower-income families and children with disabilities. Quinn has two extremely rare conditions: One is known as “prune belly syndrome,” a disorder that presents as an absence of or underdeveloped abdominal muscles, accompanied by urinary tract abnormalities; the other is megacystis-microcolon-intestinal hypoperistalsis syndrome, which involves blockages and other dysfunction of the urinary tract, kidneys, colon, and intestines. He relies on a feeding tube for nutrition, as well as tubes that deliver medication and drain his bladder. Due to complications of his medical conditions, MacKercher says, he needs a multi-organ transplant, a rare and expensive procedure. MacKercher says that, without the support of Medicaid, “We would be looking at end of life and financial ruin. I don’t know how he would receive care. We can’t physically afford it.” [Michigan Independent, 9/25/25]

MINNESOTA

The Minnesota Star Tribune: ‘Alarming’ rate increases in Minnesota’s individual health insurance market. Minnesota is announcing double-digit premium increases next year for people who buy health insurance on their own, including bigger jumps than what insurers originally proposed in July. The premium increases are for “Obamacare” plans purchased through the state’s health insurance marketplace, MNsure. The rate hikes don’t reflect additional costs about 90,000 Minnesotans will see next year if Congress fails to extend pandemic-era tax credits, which is a key sticking point in ending the government shutdown that began Wednesday. [The Minnesota Star Tribune, 10/1/25]

MISSISSIPPI

WLBT: Health insurance premiums on marketplace could surge if federal subsidies expire at end of 2025. More than 300,000 Mississippians who receive health insurance through the marketplace exchange face significant premium increases starting in January 2026. The enhanced tax credits that have kept coverage affordable are set to expire at the end of 2025. “If you’re trying to get a quote for coverage starting January of 2026, you’re seeing some pretty pretty high numbers,” said Richard Roberson, President and CEO of the Mississippi Hospital Association. The enhanced tax credits, which began in 2021, have made marketplace insurance more accessible for hundreds of thousands of people living in the Magnolia State. [WLBT, 10/8/25]

MISSOURI

The St. Louis American: Obamacare health premiums to rise in 2026; Missouri among hardest hit. If you are one of the 617,000 people in Missouri or Kansas buying Obamacare insurance on healthcare.gov, expect sticker shock when next year’s premiums are announced. With few exceptions, insurance companies selling health coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace plan to increase rates in 2026. In the Kansas City area, all but one carrier have asked Kansas and Missouri regulators for the right to bump up premiums — in one case by 40%. The story is similar across the country. A survey of proposed rates by KFF and the Peterson Center on Healthcare found a median planned increase of 18% among the 312 insurers participating in ACA marketplaces nationwide. That is 11 percentage points higher than last year and the steepest increase request since 2018. Only four insurers nationwide said they would decrease rates. Insurance companies cited inflation, labor costs and expensive specialty drugs like GLP-1 weight loss medications. But health policy experts said much of the blame should fall on new Trump administration laws and policies that will increase the cost of coverage, drive healthy people to drop out and leave behind patients who cost the most. [The St. Louis American, 10/5/25]

MONTANA

Daily Montanan: State insurance auditors, including Montana’s, urged Congress to renew health insurance subsidies. While Republicans in Washington, D.C. are opposed to extending the healthcare subsidies for the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, state insurance commissioners, including Montana Auditor James Brown, a Republican, sent a letter to Congressional leaders last month urging them to continue the enhanced tax credits that began during the pandemic. “Without an extension of the enhanced credits in September, insurers and marketplaces will begin to notify over 20 million consumers in all 50 states of major premium increases in a matter of weeks,” states the letter submitted by The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which represents insurance regulators in all 50 states, D.C. and five territories. [Daily Montanan, 10/1/25]

NEBRASKA

Nebraska Examiner: Health insurance will cost more for millions of Americans — especially rural residents. A combination of Trump administration policies will make health care coverage more expensive for people who purchase plans from health insurance marketplaces — and rural residents will be hit the hardest, according to a new analysis. Researchers from the Century Foundation say Trump administration policies — especially its refusal to ask Congress to extend Biden-era tax credits that are set to expire at the end of this year — will boost out-of-pocket premiums by 93% in the 32 states that allow the federal government to operate their Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces. New rules and tariffs will have a smaller impact. Rural county residents in those states will see an increase of 107%, while residents of urban counties will pay 89% more, according to the analysis by the Century Foundation, a left-leaning research nonprofit. [Nebraska Examiner, 8/27/25]

NEVADA

The Nevada Independent: Rising insurance costs complicate Nevada marketplace’s open enrollment effort. Every year since she’s been able to, Jen Gurecki has signed up for health insurance through Nevada’s Affordable Care Act marketplace. Gurecki, 48, a small ski and snowboard manufacturer based in Reno and the founder of a nonprofit providing microloans to women in Kenya, does not have the capacity to provide insurance through her own businesses. As one of more than 110,000 Nevadans who enroll in health coverage offered on Nevada Health Link, enhanced income-based subsidies created during COVID and extended under the Biden administration have kept her insurance premiums affordable, Gurecki said. But with portions of the subsidies set to expire at the end of the year and overall insurance prices projected to rise, Gurecki is now worried. [The Nevada Independent, 10/5/25]

NEW HAMPSHIRE

New Hampshire Bulletin: Granite Staters face premium shock without congressional action. For many Granite Staters who rely on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace to access health insurance, premium tax credits from the federal government represent the difference between coverage and catastrophe. But that lifeline is about to fray. In New Hampshire, nearly 50,000 residents benefit from premium tax credits that help them afford health coverage through the ACA Marketplace. That’s approximately 70.7% of all ACA Marketplace enrollees in the state. These are Granite Staters who don’t have access to traditional employer-sponsored insurance — like a parent who works part time while their child is in school, the waiter at your favorite restaurant, freelancers, your hair stylist, small-business owners, and older adults not yet eligible for Medicare. Premium tax credits cut average monthly premiums nearly in half — from $469 to $230 — making health insurance attainable for many. [New Hampshire Bulletin, 9/22/25]

NEW JERSEY

New Jersey Independent: New Jersey health insurance premiums could soar if Congress doesn’t extend tax credit. New Jersey families could see their health insurance premiums more than double next year if Congress does not extend federal tax credits that are currently helping nearly half a million Garden State residents afford health coverage, state officials say. More than 450,000 New Jerseyans receive the enhanced premium tax credits, which Congress enacted in order to help people afford health insurance purchased through state marketplaces as Americans were losing jobs and their insurance in the early days of the COVID pandemic. Now, however, those tax credits, which were an expansion of Affordable Care Act subsidies and provided through the American Rescue Plan of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, are set to expire at the end of 2025 unless Congress extends them. Democratic lawmakers have called to continue the credits; they’ve resulted in millions more people enrolling in health care nationwide through the marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act. Republicans, who control the House and Senate, had a chance to extend the credits in their One Big Beautiful Bill Act but did not do so. [New Jersey Independent, 9/19/25]

NEW MEXICO

Source New Mexico: Health insurance will cost more for millions of Americans — especially rural residents. A combination of Trump administration policies will make health care coverage more expensive for people who purchase plans from health insurance marketplaces — and rural residents will be hit the hardest, according to a new analysis. Researchers from the Century Foundation say Trump administration policies — especially its refusal to ask Congress to extend Biden-era tax credits that are set to expire at the end of this year — will boost out-of-pocket premiums by 93% in the 32 states that allow the federal government to operate their Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces. New rules and tariffs will have a smaller impact. Rural county residents in those states will see an increase of 107%, while residents of urban counties will pay 89% more, according to the analysis by the Century Foundation, a left-leaning research nonprofit. [Source New Mexico, 8/22/25]

NEW YORK

Journal News: Shutdown closing in on ACA health cost hikes for 220K in NY. Here's how much premiums jump. The state is set to send renewal notices to enrollees to start signups on Nov. 1 for another year of coverage through a host of private insurers. That's the first glimpse many will get of the 38% average premium jump that state officials say enrollees will face when federal subsidies that were holding down the costs expire at the end of the year — unless Congress renews them. [Journal News, 10/20/25]

NORTH CAROLINA

Raleigh News & Observer: Nearly 1 million in NC rely on ‘Obamacare’ plans tied to shutdown. What to know. The federal government shutdown continues. And at the core of the stalemate between Republicans and Democrats over funding government services into October and beyond is a dispute over health care. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution backed by President Donald Trump to keep the government funded at current levels until late November, but the Senate rejected it multiple times, with most Republicans voting in favor and most Democrats against. Democrats want Republicans to reverse cuts and changes to Medicaid made under the federal reconciliation bill known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, and to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies to prevent premium increases for millions next year. [Raleigh News & Observer, 10/13/25]

NORTH DAKOTA

North Dakota News Cooperative: Expiration of tax credits could mean larger health insurance bills for ND farmers. Enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits will expire at the end of 2025, unless renewed by Congress. For farmers accessing health insurance through the North Dakota Farmers Union insurance division, that could mean a big increase in family expenses. More than 70% of those farmers in the state who are members of the union get a tax credit on the ACA marketplace, according to Lance Boyer, sales director of financial products at Farmers Union Insurance. Those added out-of-pocket costs could hit North Dakota farmers at a time when many are already pressured from the impacts of tariffs, inflationary pressures on inputs and equipment, increased debt and high interest rates. Increased costs could also lead to an increasing number of uninsured. [North Dakota News Cooperative, 10/1/25]

OHIO

The Columbus Dispatch: Ohioans under Obamacare to see health costs spike or lose coverage if tax credits expire. Hundreds of thousands of Ohioans who buy health insurance in the Affordable Care Act marketplace will see their premium costs spike dramatically or be uninsured altogether if tax credits from the federal government expire. These "enhanced premium tax credits", or subsidies, are at the center of the nearly two-week government shutdown. They currently help over 24 million people, among them 583,000 Ohioans, afford health insurance that isn't connected to an employer, depending on their income, that they purchase through the ACA marketplace. [The Columbus Dispatch, 10/11/25]

OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma Voice: As Congress fights in DC, 300,000 Oklahomans face surging health insurance costs. Earlier this month, Oklahoma’s state Insurance Department issued a stark warning that should alarm us all. When federally enhanced tax credits expire at the end of the year, some Oklahomans will see their health insurance premiums increase by over 75%. The state agency additionally warned that the termination of the federal program and stricter eligibility verification checks will likely “result in a significant decrease in enrollment.” Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready, a Republican, has urged Congress “to take a softer approach to ending” the subsidies and warned that “the impact to Oklahoma hospital systems is yet to be realized.” [Oklahoma Voice, 10/13/25]

OREGON

Lincoln Chronicle: Premiums for Oregonians who buy their own health insurance policies going up by 10 percent in 2026. The state’s final health insurance rates for thousands of Oregonians who buy their own coverage but are not on Medicare are going up next year by as much as nearly 13 percent. The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services on Wednesday announced that premiums will rise by nearly 10 percent on average, compared with an average increase of more than 8 percent last year. Premiums are also going up nationwide. A Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation analysis found an average increase of 18 percent. That’s 11 percentage points higher than last year and marks the biggest rate rise since 2018. Consumers in Oregon and across the country also could face more financial pain — a portion of the federal subsidies awarded to most people who’ve bought their insurance through the federal marketplace website is set to expire next year. Those subsidies, part of the Affordable Care Act, curbed overall costs, allowing many people who might be able to afford health insurance to buy coverage. Democrats in Congress are fighting to extend the subsidies as part of the government shutdown negotiations, but it’s unclear what the outcome will be. If they go away, experts expect 4 million people across the country to drop their health insurance. [Lincoln Chronicle, 10/12/25]

PENNSYLVANIA

Pittsburg Post-Gazette: Obamacare tax credits become a red line as government shutdown looms. Andrea, a 44-year-old Washington County mother is “not asking for sympathy,” she said as talks to keep the federal government open past Wednesday — and her health insurance intact — teetered 240 miles away at the U.S. Capitol. “I manage. But health care should be affordable and accessible to the average person,” she said. [Pittsburg Post-Gazette, 9/30/25]

RHODE ISLAND

Rhode Island Current: Double-digit annual commercial health insurance rate hikes are coming in 2026. Even after cutting $59 million from what health insurers requested, 170,000 Rhode Islanders will shoulder the steepest annual premium hikes in more than a decade, the Rhode Island Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner Cory King said Monday. King’s bleak conclusion came in tandem with the office’s approval of 2026 commercial premiums, following a four-month review process. “There’s no sugar-coating this,” King said in an interview. “It’s going to produce financial hardship for people. Unless we can get the costs of hospitals and physicians and drugs under control, I worry we’re going to see more of this.” [Rhode Island Current, 9/15/25]

SOUTH CAROLINA

ABC 15: SC residents face rising health insurance rates as shutdown impacts subsidies. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), a government program that more than 600,000 South Carolinians rely on for health insurance, is facing rising rates that may cause a huge chunk of people across the state to drop their insurance. [ABC 14, 10/18/25]

SOUTH DAKOTA

Dakota News Now: 11,000 South Dakotans at risk of losing health insurance by year’s end. Roughly 11,000 South Dakotans could lose their insurance by year’s end if Congress cannot come to an agreement to extend certain tax credits under the Affordable Care Act. The tax credits may expire at the end of the year, but open enrollment for health insurance starts at the beginning of November and ends January 15. [Dakota News Now, 10/2/25]

TENNESSEE

WCDT: TN Health Care Premiums Set to Increase by 113% as Tax Credits Expire. Tennessee families are among millions of Americans bracing for steep health care premium hikes beginning in 2026, as key federal tax credits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are set to expire at the end of 2025. Notices warning of these increases are already arriving in mailboxes ahead of the November 1st open enrollment period. The expiring subsidies have helped more than 20 million Americans afford coverage through the ACA Marketplace. Without congressional action to renew the credits, premiums could soar by as much as 600% nationwide. In Tennessee, a family of four earning $80,000 could see monthly premiums jump from $263 to $560, while a single adult making $50,000 could see costs rise from $217 to $415. [931go.com, 10/11/25]

TEXAS

The Texas Tribune: Texas could bear the brunt of expiring ACA tax credits. Is the GOP delegation willing to make a deal? In 2018, on the heels of Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Democrats made enormous midterm gains, flipping 41 House seats — including two in Texas. Seven years later, Democrats see another opportunity to win back the House during a Trump-era midterm by centering their message on health care. Enhanced premium tax credits — a policy change that has driven down average ACA premium prices and tripled enrollment in the marketplace — are set to expire at the end of the year, a cutoff that has thrust the issue into the center of the federal funding battle that led to this week’s government shutdown. Hours before the deadline, Democrats voted against funding the government, saying that with November open enrollment fast approaching, the time to address the ACA subsidy issue is now. Republicans have argued that any negotiations on health care policy should occur later in the year and remain separate from government funding negotiations. There is no end in sight to the impasse. If the subsidies expire, the impact will be felt disproportionately in Texas, where insurers have already requested premium hikes and health policy organizations project hundreds of thousands of people, if not over a million, will end up dropping their insurance coverage because premiums will rise. [The Texas Tribune, 10/2/25]

UTAH

The Salt Lake Tribune: Thousands of Utahns could face a hard choice if ‘enhanced’ Affordable Care Act subsidies expire. Stan Clawson was 20 years old when a rock climbing accident severed his spinal cord and left him paralyzed. Now 49, the Utah native and independent filmmaker relies on the insurance he gets through the Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace for his medical needs. “Unlike a lot of people who are lucky enough to just get health insurance as a ‘just in case,’ I use my health insurance every single day, multiple times a day, every time I go to the bathroom,” Clawson said during a recent interview, referring to his coverage for catheters. “For me, it’s not an option to not have health insurance. I need that just to live.” Clawson is among the thousands of Utahns who — despite having higher incomes — pay less toward their monthly premiums because the federal government pays a subsidy toward the cost. The subsidies, called enhanced premium tax credits, passed in 2021 and made it possible for people making more than 400% of the federal poverty level — just over $62,000 for an individual — to qualify for Affordable Care Act tax credits. People estimate what they’ll earn in the coming year and get the subsidies up front. The expanded credits prompted the number of people getting health care coverage through the marketplace to more than double in Utah and across the country, but they’re set to expire at the end of the year. [The Salt Lake Tribune, 10/15/25]

VERMONT

WCAX: New Trump administration directives to raise health care costs for some Vermonters. If you’ve been getting your insurance from the state on Vermont Health Connect, a big change may be coming your way. The deadline for Congress to extend enhanced tax subsidies, which reduce premium rates for Vermont Health Connect members, is expiring at the end of the year. As part of the Affordable Care Act, it is unlikely a Republican majority will support it. According to Department of Health Access Commissioner DaShawn Groves, that means if your income is more than 400% of the federal poverty level, you will no longer receive that subsidy. “It’s quite extreme, and it hits people in their pocketbooks,” said Groves. [WCAX, 8/19/25]

VIRGINIA

The Virginia Independent: Virginia health insurance plan prices set to spike by more than 20%. The cost of health insurance plans for many Virginians is set to go up more than 20% after the Republican-led U.S. Congress opted to not extend insurance subsidies. In 2021, President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats passed the American Rescue Plan Act, which expanded subsidies initially created by the Affordable Care Act, lowering the cost of health insurance plans for millions of Americans by hundreds of dollars annually. The Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 extended those subsidies through the end of 2025. However, the budget passed by the Republican-led U.S. Congress and signed into law on July 4 by President Donald Trump did not include an extension of the policy, meaning those enhanced subsidies will end unless Congress takes action. Without intervention from Congress, Peterson-KFF, a U.S. health care system monitoring organization, projected an increase in premiums for subsidized enrollees of over 75%. [The Virginia Independent, 8/14/25]

WASHINGTON

Apple Valley News Now: Washington health insurance premiums could rise significantly without congressional action. Health care premiums for hundreds of thousands of Washingtonians could increase dramatically next year as enhanced tax credits that help working families afford coverage are set to expire December 31, 2025, without congressional action. The enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits created under the American Rescue Plan helped bring down health insurance costs for more than 216,000 Washingtonians. However, those savings could disappear at the end of the year unless Congress acts to extend them. [Apple Valley News Now, 10/1/25]

WEST VIRGINIA

WVNS: WV residents could see highest healthcare premium spikes in the nation. Democratic Lawmakers have said West Virginia residents could be hit hard by federal changes to healthcare funding. Affordable Care Act members could see a 387% increase in marketplace premiums, according to the Center for American Progress. The increase will reportedly occur if Affordable Care Act Premium Tax Credits are allowed to expire in 2026. Democrats said the ongoing shutdown of the federal government is fueled by Republicans’ unwillingness to address these pressing healthcare issues. “That’s going to disproportionately affect West Virginians,” said Delegate Mike Pushkin, who also serves as the Chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party. “Our small business owners and our independent contractors here in West Virginia are going to see the highest rate increases in the entire country.” Both Delegate Pushkin and U.S. Senator Tim Kaine said House Republicans are not only unwilling to negotiate, but they are no longer even in Washington after having been dismissed. [WVNS, 10/10/25]

WISCONSIN

Wisconsin Examiner: Small business owners, employees worry about higher health insurance costs. Matt Raboin owns Brix Cider, a farm-to-table restaurant, and brews apple cider in the Dane County village of Mount Horeb. His wife’s full-time job with benefits provides the family with health insurance, but for Raboin, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has made an important difference for some of his employees. “We don’t offer insurance ourselves,” Raboin said during a recent round table discussion set up by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin). “A lot of small businesses in small towns aren’t in a financial place to do that.” [Wisconsin Examiner, 10/1/25]

WYOMING

Oil City News: Wyomingites brace for spiking health insurance prices as marketplace changes loom. Lately, budget planning has been a source of uncertainty and dread for Laramie resident Jessica Brauer. The executive director of the Laramie Plains Civic Center gets her health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace, which was created under the Affordable Care Act in 2010 to help more Americans afford coverage. A prominent feature of the program, known as the Advance Premium Tax Credits, provides subsidies that drastically reduce premium costs. With the credits, Brauer pays around $325 a month. Without them, she said, her monthly costs would be $816 — a 150% jump. She has been lucky to be generally healthy, she said; she hasn’t needed extensive or expensive care. She carries the policy more for the off chance that something catastrophic were to happen. But now Brauer — one of more than 40,000 Wyoming residents who are covered on the marketplace — is wondering if she’ll be able to afford insurance without the tax credits. Congress has not extended them beyond 2025, meaning they will expire after December unless federal lawmakers take action. [Oil City News, 10/1/25]

###