Shock and dismay have already begun as Americans face next year’s health insurance costs—and it looks like everyone will be in for some grim numbers.
So far, much of the attention has been on the stratospheric prices that Americans might see on plans they buy from Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Critical tax credits for those plans are set to expire at the end of the year, and, on top of that, insurers have proposed a median 18 percent price increase for 2026. With the higher prices and a loss of credits, some Americans could see their monthly premiums more than double.
(Meanwhile, everyone not in America): WTF is a health plan enrollment period?
It’s the 2 weeks or so in which your insurance company allows you to adjust your coverage. To facilitate this, they give you brochures designed to be confusing to try and trick you into paying maximum premiums alwith minimal coverage.
I had an employer that bragged about bringing employee down costs with the new provider by 20% per payckeck as the reason for the drastic reduction in coverage and higher copays. They glossed over the fact that we were changing from bi-weekly to weekly paychecks, so the 20 percent reduction per paycheck was actually a 60 percent increase overall.