ACA marketplace plan prices expected to spike 75% next year, analysis finds

Health insurance premiums are going way up next year for people who buy their insurance on Healthcare.gov or the state-based marketplaces, according to new national analysis (Source: “ACA health insurance will cost the average person 75% more next year, research shows,” NPR, July 18).
 
The average person who buys Affordable Care Act insurance will be paying 75% more for their premium, according to the analysis from KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.
 
Enhanced subsidies started during the COVID-19 pandemic under the Biden administration are set to expire this year. They helped dramatically decrease the cost of premiums for these plans. 
 
Now that those subsidies are going away for next year, premiums are going to spike. For example, if someone paid $60 a month for their health insurance this year, they might be looking at $105 a month next year. People who are generally healthy might well decide that the higher premium is not worth it. They'll go without health insurance and risk it. The Congressional Budget Office estimates letting the subsidies expire would increase the number of uninsured by 4.2 million people.
 
If healthy people opt out, the insurance pool is left with those who cost insurance companies more — people who can't go without health insurance because of chronic conditions or expensive medications. "That's why insurance companies are going ahead and charging a higher premium, with the expectation that the market is going to get sicker next year," explains Cox.