Health insurance marketplace consumers around the country are seeing their premium costs double on average for 2026 because Congress is letting the level of financial assistance drop.

Even before open enrollment started Saturday, news reports swirled that it was already “ too late ” to shield enrollees from sticker shock and improve affordability for 2026.

While Congress indeed failed to spare early shoppers sticker shock and has kept the government in a record-long shutdown over the issue, late action after the government reopens could still make a real difference for American families’ wallets and lives.

I know because I’ve seen how the combination of a government shutdown and rocky open enrollment has played out before. Back in 2013, I was working at the Department of Health and

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