Millions of Americans are bracing themselves for a significant hike in their 2026 health insurance premiums without the subsidies at the center of the government shutdown battle. It comes as insurance costs are rising significantly throughout the country. A KFF survey found the

ACA insurers are raising silver premiums 26% in 2026 The amount enrollees pay will rise about *114%* to keep the same plan if enhanced tax credits expire.

Our new explainer highlights 8 key issues to watch in the 2026 open enrollment period, including looming changes to the enhanced premium tax credits, higher premium payments, changes to Marketplace eligibility rules, and more: on.kff.org/432BLHT

INCREDIBLE GAME INCREDIBLE SERIES INCREDIBLE SEASON THE @DODGERS ARE BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPS 🏆 (MLB x GEICO)

ACA/Obamacare premiums are high, but their premium aren’t higher than the employer plans most of us have. healthsystemtracker.org/brief/how-aca-…

Dr. Oz just announced that all 50 states have submitted applications for payment from the rural health fund, meeting the Nov 5th deadline. Our new brief looks at how most of the funds could be distributed. kff.org/state-health-p…

Enhanced ACA tax credits average about a thousand dollars per person. Bronze plans have deductibles averaging $7,476 per person. A health savings account is not going to make that deductible affordable for low-income people.

No one likes prior authorization review. But could we get rid of it? My new column: kff.org/from-drew-altm…

We examine the new proposals from Senators Scott and Cassidy to transform some or all of the ACA premium tax credits into health savings accounts. Cynthia Cox kff.org/affordable-car…

"divergence between federal policy and the states and among states ultimately means that vaccine coverage and access could increasingly vary according to where one lives." kff.org/covid-19/track…

NEW: Our latest count of the # of states that have decoupled their childhood vaccine recommendations form the federal government: it's now up to 28. A big increase from just a few months ago. kff.org/state-health-p…

During our latest Health Wonk Shop, Brown University School of Public Health’s Erin Fuse Brown, Bates White Economic Consulting’s Cory Capps, and PBGH’s Elizabeth Mitchell joined Larry Levitt for a discussion on health care consolidation and integration. 🎬 Watch the recap: on.kff.org/3OqlmZl 🎧 Listen as a podcast:

Rakesh Singh KFF I have been an American physician for 40 years, still find this confusing, and did not get 100% in this test. I can’t imagine how a layperson can navigate through this maze of rules and understand it all.

Behind  almost every health policy move for the rest of the year - the midterms - and how that’s playing out so far.  My latest column on.kff.org/4tYaVMG