People who get ‘Obamacare' health insurance are set to see premiums jump by 18%, study finds
Under Obamacare, people who may not have health insurance through their employer but are not eligible for Medicaid can purchase health care on state exchanges. If they earn an income below a certain threshold they could be eligible for tax credits.
The hike in insurance premiums is due to rising healthcare costs, inflation, uncertainty over federal policy changes and, potentially, President Donald Trump's tariffs, according health policy think tank KFF.
The think tank analyzed filings from 312 insurers across 50 states and Washington, D.C. to state regulators detailing their expectations and rate changes for Obamacare plans for 2026.
The increase in the median premium is more than double last year's 7 percent proposed increase and is the largest rate change health insurers have requested in five years, the think tank found.
'Tariffs could potentially put upward pressure on the costs of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, driving premiums upward in 2026,' the report summarized. 'However, there is considerable uncertainty about how these trade policies will impact medical pricing, and insurers vary in how (or if) they factor tariffs into their rate development.'
Tax credits for the Affordable Care Act will expire at the end of the calendar year unless Congress intervenes. Insurers also cited this is a factor in higher premium rates.
'The expiration of enhanced tax credits will lead to out-of-pocket premiums for ACA marketplace enrollees increasing by an average of more than 75 percent, with insurers expecting healthier enrollees to drop coverage,' KFF's report said. 'That, in turn, increases underlying premiums.'
Experts warned that the increase in premiums is going to 'shock' a lot of Americans.
'I think there's going to be a lot of sticker shock of people who aren't following this debate in Congress and are going to be stunned by just how much their rates go up, because the premiums will increase substantially,' Jonathan Oberlander, a professor of social medicine at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, told The Independent.
'They might not get employer-sponsored health care, but they're like realtors or entrepreneurs or small business owners or Uber drivers,' one former Capitol Hill aide who now works in health care told The Independent. 'These folks – going to the exchanges trying to purchase their health insurance, they're on the precipice of seeing a big cost of living increase.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
13 minutes ago
- The Independent
Amtrak reveals launch date for new 160mph tilting trains on the East Coast
Amtrak's new 160mph tilting trains serving stations on the Northeast Corridor will enter service on August 28, it has been announced. The next-generation Acela trains will run from Washington DC's Union Station to Boston via Philadelphia, New York Penn Station, New Haven, and Providence, a total distance of 457 miles. The current end-to-end journey time with the tilting Acela trains introduced in 2000 is typically six hours and 40 minutes. How much time the new trains shave off that hasn't been revealed yet, but they do have a top service speed that's 10mph faster — though this can only be achieved on certain sections of the mostly 110mph route — and an enhanced "anticipative" tilting system that not only allows for a smoother ride, Amtrak claims, but for faster speeds through curves. Amtrak also points out that the new Acela offers 27 percent more seating capacity per departure and upgraded interiors in standard, business, and first-class cars with more legroom. Features include onboard cafe cars, high-speed 5G-enabled Wi-Fi, in-seat USB ports and plug sockets, individual reading lights, winged headrests that Amtrak says "provide more comfort and separation," and seat covers made out of recycled leather. In first class, there are solo seats and an improved at-seat meal service featuring dishes by the current Acela meal provider — James Beard award-winning restaurateur Stephen Starr. New to Cafe Acela, meanwhile, is the addition of a grab-and-go self-service for "quick and easy checkout." A cart service will also travel the aisles on select departures. To book, passengers can use an interactive reservation system using the Amtrak app. Five new trainsets will be in service initially, with the number rising to 28 through 2027. Though the trains are designed by French firm Alstom, which makes France's famed 200mph TGVs, Amtrak revealed that the NextGen Acela fleet was assembled at Alstom's facility in Hornell, New York, using components from over 180 suppliers across 29 states, creating approximately 15,000 jobs. "NextGen Acela is more than a new train — it's an evolution of travel," said Amtrak President Roger Harris. "In just a few weeks, history will be made with the debut of NextGen Acela as we launch a new standard for American train travel."
The Independent
13 minutes ago
- The Independent
Faith leaders rally to support immigrants facing deportation in Southern California
Outside a Southern California immigration court, the Rev. Oona Casanova Vazquez sat beside a nervous Peruvian national as he waited for a judge to call his name — talking, smiling, even handing him a mint. Vazquez, lead pastor of the South Bay Church of the Nazarene in Torrance, has been spending her Thursdays this summer with other faith leaders and church volunteers observing court proceedings and handing out leaflets about the Trump administration's immigration enforcement. 'I come here to stand and bear witness to these people who have more courage than I have,' she said. 'They walk through these doors knowing they could be detained. I'm here to offer them strength and to let them know they are valued and prayed over.' Since early June, the Trump administration has significantly ramped up immigration arrests and raids, especially in Southern California, taking people into custody at businesses, farms and public spaces like parking lots. Fear has spread in the region's immigrant communities, especially among those without legal status. Many faith leaders and groups — including the Catholic Church, which has millions of adherents in the region — have come out in support. While clergy in collars have registered a moral presence and show of support in the courts, numerous churches and nonprofits have mobilized to deliver food and medicine to those afraid to leave their homes. Some churches are offering rent assistance to members who have lost or quit their jobs out of fear. Congregations are streaming worship services so people won't need to take a risk by coming to services, which are no longer immune from immigration raids. Department of Homeland Security officials have maintained there will be no safe spaces for those who are in the country illegally, have committed crimes, or tried to undermine immigration enforcement. They have consistently said their efforts are intended to safeguard public safety and national security. People in the country illegally can avoid arrest taking the government's offer of $1,000 and a free flight to their home country, said department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin. 'We encourage every person here illegally to use the CBP Home app and take advantage of this offer and preserve the opportunity to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream,' she said. Offering support in immigration court Clergy say the immigrants they are seeing in immigration court are not criminals, but working people trying to follow the process and protect their families. The Rev. Terry LePage, a member of Irvine United Congregational Church in Orange County, said she has seen people whose cases have been dismissed get immediately picked up by immigration officials in courthouse hallways and taken away in vans. 'You see a family broken up, a life go down the drain in front of your eyes,' she said. 'I cry a lot these days. But I know I am where God needs me to be. I'm able to bear this pain, which is very small compared to theirs.' Laura Siriani, archdeacon with the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, led a midday prayer vigil outside the courthouse July 31. About 25 people participated. 'When we can pray together and learn about what's happening to our neighbors, it energizes us,' she said. 'We have to speak out and be the voice of those who have none.' Jennifer Coria, an immigration organizer with Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, a group that holds prayer vigils across Southern California, trains pastors and lay leaders in 'what to do and what not to do' in court and how to relay information from detainees to loved ones, she said. Coria said the volunteers don't ask people how they came into the country; their goal is simply to support individuals trying navigate the system. The Rev. Scott Santarosa, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, helped start an interfaith program in the Diocese of San Diego called Faithful Accompaniment In Trust and Hope to support migrants seeking asylum. He said volunteers, including himself, feel 'gutted' and helpless as they see people being arrested in the hallways and taken away. In his 2,300-strong parish, where six of seven Masses are in Spanish, the priest estimates that up to 40% of worshippers may be in the country illegally. Santarosa takes inspiration from the story of Christ rescuing the Apostle Peter when his faith wavers, he said. 'We're being asked to do the impossible,' he said. 'No one likes to be powerless. But we are being asked by the Spirit to come and stand with people in this difficult moment and be powerless with them.' At Our Lady of Soledad Catholic Church in the Coachella Valley, about 7,000 gather for Mass every weekend. The Rev. Francisco Gomez says about 20% of his parish members are in the U.S. without legal status; some have been for decades, and have children and grandchildren. He worries about parishioners becoming isolated because of fear. They're within the Diocese of San Bernardino, where Bishop Albert Rojas gave parishioners a dispensation from attending Mass after immigration detentions on two properties. Gomez wants to let the community know 'the church is not going away.' 'We're here. What happens to any one of us is going to happen to all of us.' Helping with food and other essentials Last month, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles launched its Family Assistance Program to deliver groceries, meals, medicine and other essentials. Monsignor Timothy Dyer, pastor of the largely-Latino St. Patrick Catholic Church in South Los Angeles, helped start the program, which is helping about 150 families with essentials such as rent, food, diapers and toilet paper. 'The community is rallying around these people,' he said. 'This is what a church ought to be.' Pastor Ara Torosian, who ministers to Farsi speakers at Cornerstone Church of West Los Angeles, a multiethnic Protestant congregation, came to the U.S. in 2005 as a refugee after being arrested for smuggling Bibles into Iran. He said he came through Catholic Charities and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society programs, which have been gutted under the Trump administration, leaving no legal pathways for religious minorities fleeing persecution in Iran. Torosian's congregants were among those detained in a wave of immigration arrests after the Iran-Israel war in June. The pastor said his congregants came as asylum-seekers under the Biden administration and had work permits. While a couple he had baptized and married in his church were arrested at their home, another family — a couple and their young daughter — were arrested during an immigration court appearance. The couple remains in detention awaiting Farsi translators, but the family of three was released with ankle monitors, Torosian said. 'We were all in tears when they came back to the Sunday service," he said. The pastor is raising money to help these families with rent while their cases proceed. He worries about keeping up the rent assistance, given his church's limited resources, and is asking members living in the U.S. without legal status not to come to church. 'This is heartbreaking in a country like America,' he said. 'We are praying that the situation will change.' ___ Associated Press video journalist Krysta Fauria in Los Angeles contributed reporting. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Daily Mail
14 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
I know I did the wrong thing by going through my daughter's bag... but I'm so shaken by what I found. Should I confront her? Tread carefully says CAROLINE WEST-MEADS... here's why
Q Recently I went through my 17-year-old daughter's bag – I am really not proud of this, but I was worried because she had been withdrawn and not quite herself – and was horrified to discover a packet for the morning-after pill. After the initial shock, I am now torn. While I'm glad she has behaved responsibly, albeit after the event, I'm heartbroken that she didn't feel she could talk to me. We've always been close, or so I thought. It has made me question what else she might be keeping from me.
