The average amount that health insurers will be charging for coverage at ACA Marketplaces is rising by 26% on average, according to analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Roughly 24 million Americans have Obamacare coverage.

Hello and welcome to the Health Brief newsletter. The ongoing shutdown may have D.C. in stuck in gridlock, but the clock on open enrollment is ticking fast. Obamacare shoppers are facing their own kind of uncertainty: Higher premiums now, or the hope of relief if Congress strikes a deal? Let’s get into it.

Premiums for millions of Americans in red and blue states are expected to more than double on average next year unless Congress finds a solution.

Congress is barreling toward a critical deadline for extending the enhanced ObamaCare subsidies at the heart of the government shutdown, and it may already be too late to shield the public from sticker shock with open-enrollment window shopping underway.

ACA open enrollment began on Nov. 1, but key premium subsidies remain in limbo due to the government shutdown. Learn how to shop for an ACA plan this year.

Steep discounts for millions of Americans on Obamacare won’t expire until Dec. 31, but an exodus from the government health insurance program is expected to start Saturday when open enrollment kicks off for 2026.

In the past few years, it’s been possible to put your ACA insurance “on autopilot,” with automatic reenrollment. Given the uncertainty around premiums, this is not a good year to do that.

Four health insurers are dropping or significantly curtailing individual market offerings in 2026 as insurance pools are predicted to grow sicker.