ACA open enrollment begins Sunday, insurance premiums expected to jump
The healthcare.gov website on a laptop arranged in Norfolk, Virginia, US, on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The open enrollment window for the Affordable Care Act marketplace, also known as Obamacare, opened in most states on Sunday, with many people looking to purchase their health insurance for next year facing the potential double whammy of higher premiums and fewer coverage options.
By the numbers:
An analysis by the KFF shows the average benchmark silver plan premium across all states will increase by 13% in the coming year. In states where individuals purchase plans through the healthcare.gov website, premiums are expected to rise by 11%, while the states that run their own marketplaces are expected to see a 16% rise.
On top of rising premiums, many groups of potential buyers are finding that they are no longer eligible for financial help like premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions.
What they're saying:
Cynthia Cox, a vice president and director of the ACA program at KFF, warned that the ones who will be most affected by higher premiums will be those who do not qualify for a subsidy.
"They may or may not be able to afford to continue to keep their coverage into next year," Cox said, adding that "a lot of them have already moved into bronze plans, which are the cheapest plans."
Dig deeper:
Beyond potentially needing to pay more for coverage, enrollees could face potential delays in working with a broker, The Associated Press warned, adding that new restrictions on immigrants and stricter enrollment checks have been implemented.
In February, nearly 20 million people in the U.S. were actively enrolled in ACA marketplace plans, the Department of Health and Human Services reported. In September, Vice President JD Vance and other federal officials indicated that approximately 760,000 of those names were going to be removed from the program, saying they were fraudulently enrolled or did not exist.
New regulations that limit tax credits for some immigrants who are in the country legally could also potentially lead to an additional 1 million people being uninsured.
What's next:
Between the higher premiums, immigration eligibility changes, and anti-fraud efforts, Cox said she expects the number of people on the exchange to fall, but she added that all the changes coming at once will make it harder to determine the reasons for the lower figure.
What you can do:
The open enrollment period for 2027 on healthcare.gov runs through Jan. 15, 2027, but those who need coverage at the beginning of the year will need to enroll by Dec. 15.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from the KFF and The Associated Press. This story was reported from Orlando, Florida.