Idaho kicks off Affordable Care Act open enrollment as premiums are set to rise nationwide

Open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans began in Idaho on Wednesday, giving the rest of the country a preview of how much monthly premiums are expected to increase in 2026.

Many Idahoans will have to decide whether they will be able to afford coverage once enhanced subsidies that kept premiums lower for many middle-class families expire at the end of the year.

Bob McMichael, 63, and his wife Leslie, 62, already know they won’t.

Both are retired and earn about $42,000 a year. They currently pay $51 per month for their ACA plan. Late last month, they received notice that their monthly premium would increase to $2,232 next year without the subsidies.

“We are facing a stratospheric increase in health care and we likely have no options to continue to have health care between now and January 2026,” McMichael said.

After receiving the notice, the McMichaels wrote to Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, urging him to support extending the grants.

The move is at the heart of the government shutdown fight on Capitol Hill, with Democrats saying Republicans must agree to keep the enhanced subsidies, first introduced in 2021, before voting to reopen the government. Without the tax credits, average out-of-pocket premiums would increase by $1,200 a year in Idaho, a 75% increase, according to state health officials.

“Quite a few people are going to see their premiums double or more,” said Hillarie Matlock, policy director of Idaho Voices for Children, a nonprofit group that advocates for access to health insurance.

More than 100,000 people in Idaho benefited from enhanced subsidies this year, or about 87% of all ACA enrollees in the state, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

About 25,000 Idahoans will likely drop their coverage for next year if the subsidies expire Dec. 31, said Pat Kelly, executive director of Your Health Idaho, the state’s ACA marketplace.

The state has spent the last year preparing for the loss of subsidies and expected increases in premiums, Kelly said.

“This year we have spent a lot of time training agents on the nature of the changes and how we will communicate those changes to their consumers,” he said.

Gideon Lukens, senior fellow and director of research and data analysis on the health policy team at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research group, said a 60-year-old couple making $85,000 a year in Idaho could see about a $1,500 increase in their monthly premiums.

A family of four earning $130,000 a year could see their monthly premiums increase by about $650. “And this is no exception,” he said. “For some people it will be much worse.”

“A few people told us they were trying to take care of as much before the end of the calendar year simply because they were worried about the inability to address things preemptively or even make an appointment next year because of the cost,” said Matlock, of Idaho Voices for Children.

People on ACA plans who don’t qualify for tax credits won’t be spared either, Lukens said: Premiums are expected to rise about 18% on average for them as insurers raise their rates for next year.

“Virtually all enrollees in the Idaho market will see their premiums increase,” he said.

Mark and Sarah Lathrop, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, are not eligible for enhanced grants. The couple, who own Liberty Lake Wine Cellars just across the border in Washington state, currently pay $1,116 a month for their ACA plan.

Their renewal notice for 2026 shows the premium rising to $1,351 per month, an increase of 21%, while their plan’s out-of-pocket maximum will increase from $12,000 to $18,400.

Mark Lathrop said they have already cut back on travel, catering and other expenses as sales from their wine business have stabilized and costs have increased, mainly due to tariffs.

Despite the higher premiums, the couple plans to maintain their coverage due to a health problem that requires annual follow-up.

“I don’t think my situation is as bad as other people who lose their tax credits, but it will be common among small business owners,” Mark Lathrop said.