Idaho consumers are getting the nation's first look at price increases hitting Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace plans as the federal tax credits that helped to trigger a government shutdown expire.

Idaho’s marketplace open enrollment began Oct. 15, as the future of enhanced premium tax credits remains in limbo. Marketplace customers will see markedly higher premiums than last year if the credits are not extended.

“On average, gross premiums, or the overall cost of the premium, has gone up about 10 percent. And the net premium, or the amount the consumer pays after the tax credit has been applied, has increased about 75 percent,” Pat Kelly, executive director of Your Health Idaho, told The Hill.

“So, those are averages across all of our enrollees, but it does give an indication of overall increase and then increase to what the consumer actually pays.”

The enhanced premium tax credits were created through the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and extended to the end of 2025 by the Inflation Reduction Act, enabling households with incomes higher than 400 percent of the federal poverty level to benefit from lowered premiums.

Kelly estimates that about 13,000 of the roughly 135,000 enrollees in Idaho’s marketplace earn more than 400 percent of the federal poverty level. If Congress takes no action, those individuals will no longer be able to receive credits, though projections indicate that the vast majority of this cohort will

© The Hill