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.
In an analysis last month, nonpartisan health policy group KFF estimated that, on average, ACA marketplace premiums would rise 114 percent, going from $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026.
Generally, those prices wouldn’t be seen until November, when open enrollment for health plans begins. However, The Washington Post reports that many states are offering previews of next year’s plans—and their eye-popping costs. Enrollees in Georgia, for instance, got access to plan previews earlier this month, and some are seeing their premiums triple.
“We have people saying they will have to choose between their monthly premiums and mortgage,” Natasha Taylor, deputy director of Georgia Watch, a consumer advocacy group, told the Post.
Currently, an extension of the ACA tax credits is at the center of a budget deadlock among federal lawmakers, which led to a government shutdown that is now the second-longest in US history. Democrats are demanding an extension on the credits—something nearly 80 percent of Americans also want—while Republicans are insisting on separate negotiations after passing the funding legislation.
Employer plans
While ACA sticker shock spreads, a new KFF report out today suggests that people on employer-based health insurance plans are also in for some heftier prices—though the increases aren’t quite as dramatic as the Marketplace hikes.
An analysis of current employer plans finds that the average cost to insure an American family hit nearly $27,000 this year, with average employee contributions to that bill being $7,000 a year. Family premiums are up 6 percent, or $1,408, from last year, while inflation only rose 2.7 percent and wage growth only rose 4 percent.
KFF suggested that various factors are contributing to the increasing costs, with GLP-1 weight-loss drugs being a prominent one. Overall, employers told the organization that they’re bracing for higher costs for 2026 plans, with insurers already seeking double-digit increases in small-group plans.
“There is a quiet alarm bell going off. With GLP-1s, increases in hospital prices, tariffs, and other factors, we expect employer premiums to rise more sharply next year,” KFF President and CEO Drew Altman said in a statement. “Employers have nothing new in their arsenal that can address most of the drivers of their cost increases, and that could well result in an increase in deductibles and other forms of employee cost sharing again, a strategy that neither employers nor employees like but companies resort to in a pinch to hold down premium increases.”
For deductibles—the amount people pay before their plan’s coverage kicks in—costs for single coverage increased 17 percent since 2020. At that time, the average deductible was $1,617 for a covered person, while the average this year is $1,886. But deductibles can be much higher for those who work for a small employer. Among those workers, 36 percent had deductibles of $3,000 or higher this year.
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