(CNN) — Premiums for Affordable Care Act coverage will skyrocket 26%, on average, next year, according to a KFF analysis released Tuesday evening, just days before open enrollment starts on November 1. The price hike is one of the largest jumps since Obamacare plans debuted more than a decade ago — and it doesn’t factor in the expiration of the enhanced premium subsidies.

Consumers in the 30 states that use the federal exchange, healthcare.gov, can now get a preview of what they’ll pay for 2026 coverage. The site opened for so-called window shopping on Tuesday.

The monthly premium for the benchmark plan on healthcare.gov will soar 30%, on average, said KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group. In states that run their own exchanges, the benchmark plan premium will rise by an average of 17%.

But that’s not all the bad news: The actual amount enrollees pay in 2026 will be far, far higher because the enhanced premium subsidies will disappear. Their monthly payments are expected to more than double, according to a separate KFF analysis.

Those window shopping on healthcare.gov will get a full sense of the sticker shock, many for the first time. The premiums on the site reflect the lapse of the enhanced assistance.

The expiration of the beefed-up subsidies is at the center of the battle on Capitol Hill to fund the federal government and end the shutdown, which began October 1. Democrats are demanding that a short-term funding package include an extension of the enhanced assistance, while Republicans say they won’t negotiate until the government reopens.

Renewing the subsidies would cost $350 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

While the enhanced subsidies, known as premium tax credits, don’t expire until the end of the year, the damage will be done well before that, say Democrats and ACA advocates. Once consumers see much higher premiums, they may not return to sign up for coverage — even if lawmakers renew the subsidies.

The only time premiums on the federal exchange increased even more was in 2018, after President Donald Trump eliminated federal support for Obamacare subsidies that help people pay for their out-of-pocket costs. Premiums shot up by 37% that year, reflecting insurers’ uncertainty about the future of the landmark health reform law in the first Trump administration.

Paying at least double

Several states that run their own Obamacare exchanges have announced that premiums will at least double next year if the enhanced subsidies lapse.

In New Jersey, premiums will soar to more than $2,780 annually — a jump of more than 174%, on average — because of the enhanced subsidies’ expiration and insurers’ rate hike of 16.6%, according to the state’s Department of Banking and Insurance. About 60,000 enrollees in Get Covered New Jersey will completely lose federal assistance in paying their premiums in 2026.

“Consumers will soon be shopping and comparing health plans, and without these enhanced tax credits, they will be confronted by startlingly higher prices for coverage,” Commissioner Justin Zimmerman said in a statement. “We are significantly concerned that many households will be forced to choose plans with lesser coverage or choose no coverage at all as a result.”

Meanwhile, enrollees in Connect for Health Colorado will see premiums increase an average of 101% next year, the state’s Division of Insurance announced. Roughly 75,000 residents will lose access to health coverage.

Without the enhanced subsidies, a family of four living in the Denver area with an annual income of about $128,000 would no longer qualify for premium assistance and would see their annual premium bill soar by $14,000 for the standard silver plan.

But if the more generous assistance is extended, the average increase for enrollees would be 16%.

Record enrollment

The enhanced subsidies, which a Democratic Congress approved in 2021 and extended the following year, have helped drive Obamacare sign-ups to a record 24 million for this year.

Around 17 million people signed up for 2025 coverage on healthcare.gov. Another roughly 7 million enrollees live in states that run their own exchanges.

Many Republicans would be affected by the ending of the enhanced subsidies since they live in states that had the highest increases in signups, according to KFF.

The more generous subsidies have enabled many lower-income Americans to obtain coverage with no or very low monthly premiums and broadened eligibility for assistance to many middle-class consumers.

But the more generous aid also opened up the exchanges to fraud, mainly by brokers and agents who sought to earn commissions by enrolling people in Obamacare policies or switching them to new ones without their knowledge or consent.

If the subsidies expire, consumers are expected to flee the exchanges. About 4 million more people would be uninsured in 2034, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis — and that’s on top of the roughly 10 million more people who will lack coverage due to the One Big Beautiful Bill’s Medicaid and Affordable Care Act provisions.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.