Failure of Senate votes on ACA threatens an increase in healthcare prices for everybody

A pair of stopgap plans crafted to address expiring Obamacare subsidies failed in the Senate on Thursday, increasing the likelihood that millions of people in the U.S. will either go without health insurance next year or downgrade their coverage — leading to higher healthcare costs for most Americans.

The premiums for Affordable Care Act marketplace plans are going up by

114% on average in 2026 for two reasons: The enhanced tax credits that made those plans far more affordable expire Jan. 1, and health insurers pre-emptively raised rates with the expectation that millions of healthier, younger adults will opt out of coverage altogether as a result of the far more expensive monthly premiums.