Saturday is the day that\u00a0nearly\u00a024\u00a0million customers\u00a0can start\u00a0purchasing\u00a0health plans on healthcare.gov and the state-run\u00a0Obamacare\u00a0exchanges.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Higher prices and uncertainty await\u00a0many\u00a0of those\u00a0shoppers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Average premiums\u00a0are expected to\u00a0more than<\/a>\u00a0double. The directors who manage marketplace enrollment in states\u00a0including\u00a0Maryland, California, Pennsylvania,\u00a0and Idaho told me and my colleague Julie Appleby\u00a0that people are\u00a0wondering\u00a0how\u00a0they’ll\u00a0scrape\u00a0together hundreds\u00a0\u2014\u00a0or even thousands\u00a0\u2014\u00a0of dollars more next year to pay for these plans. Some people are considering plans with five-figure deductibles, like one Virginia Beach, Virginia, family\u00a0facing\u00a0a $20,000 deductible to\u00a0keep their monthly premiums near $70.\u00a0<\/p>\n “They might look cheap premium-wise, but the coverage itself is going to end up costing that family a lot,” Deepak Madala, the director of Enroll Virginia, told\u00a0me\u00a0this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even as\u00a0Americans\u00a0weigh\u00a0high-priced plans,\u00a0there’s\u00a0the very real possibility that everything could change\u00a0if Congress strikes a last-minute deal to extend the subsidies\u00a0before the end of open enrollment, which runs through Jan. 15 in most states.\u00a0<\/p>\n Behind\u00a0the\u00a0scenes, the directors of state-based exchanges\u00a0are\u00a0drawing up contingency plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Idaho, the state exchange director says he has “notices ready to go” should Congress work\u00a0something\u00a0out. California and Maryland are preparing to temporarily close open enrollment if lawmakers agree\u00a0to extend\u00a0the subsidies.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Capitol Hill, insurers are\u00a0warning lawmakers that time is running out.\u00a0<\/p>\n “If things go past the first week of December, it does get much more operationally complicated,” Kris\u00a0Haltmeyer, the vice president for legislative and regulatory policy at\u00a0the\u00a0Blue Cross Blue Shield Association,\u00a0told me.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, a\u00a0month\u00a0into the\u00a0government shutdown, Congress appears no closer to a deal\u00a0to extend\u00a0the\u00a0extra\u00a0subsidies that have made marketplace health insurance more affordable since 2021, when Democrats first approved a law that\u00a0provided\u00a0significant\u00a0assistance\u00a0to pay premiums.\u00a0<\/p>\n Republican and Democratic\u00a0leaders have expressed a desire to\u00a0find a solution\u00a0before those subsidies lapse at\u00a0year’s end.\u00a0<\/p>\n But,\u00a0as is typical\u00a0with\u00a0Congress,\u00a0each party has\u00a0different ideas\u00a0about\u00a0what a deal might look like. And lawmakers\u00a0haven’t\u00a0agreed\u00a0even\u00a0on how\u00a0to\u00a0take\u00a0a\u00a0first step.\u00a0Democrats have demanded an\u00a0agreement\u00a0on the ACA subsidies before they\u00a0will vote\u00a0to fund\u00a0the federal government. Republicans, meanwhile, have balked,\u00a0saying\u00a0they’ll\u00a0negotiate only after the government is reopened.\u00a0<\/p>\n KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\nUSE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n