Families on Obamacare brace for higher health care premiums next year

Tax credits made Affordable Care Act plans accessible to middle-class families. Enhanced subsidies are set to expire at the end of 2025, which could result in major price jumps.

Leighanne Safford and her husband, Lorry, pay just $278 a month for health insurance. But starting Jan. 1, their monthly premium could jump to as much as $1,800.

Safford’s family is among the millions who could be forced to pay hundreds of dollars more for their health insurance premiums next year as enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies expire at the end of December.

The enhanced subsidies were put into place under the 2021 American Rescue Plan, which made ACA plans affordable for many middle-class families. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 extended the subsidies through 2025.

The Republican-controlled Congress, however, didn’t extend the subsidies in either of the two major funding bills passed so far this year. It’s uncertain whether Republicans will extend them in a bill to keep the government funded by Sept. 30.

For Safford, the effect could be compounded by rollbacks to Medicaid expansion in President Donald Trump’s sprawling legislative bill signed into law over the summer. She fears her 13-year-old son, Adam, could lose his Medicaid coverage, so the family is also planning to pay for his health insurance in 2026.