When the Affordable Care Act marketplace, where roughly 42,000 Wyoming residents get their health insurance, opened enrollment Saturday, customers likely faced a double whammy: higher prices and fewer resources.
The landscape looks different this year between federal changes to the marketplace’s administration and the ongoing government shutdown — caused in part by a deadlock over ACA tax credits designed to make insurance cheaper for consumers.
As things stand, consumers are generally experiencing less help in navigating the system, seeing higher premium costs for plans and facing new reporting requirements. In some cases, people could find their health insurance costs spiking by thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars annually.
Wyomingites have two months to shop for a plan before open enrollment closes Jan. 15. WyoFile reached out to experts and gathered information and tips for residents to keep in mind through the process:
Costs may rise drastically
The Affordable Care Act marketplace is available to people who don’t qualify for Medicaid and don’t have insurance through an employer.
Open enrollment is the annual window when individuals and families can sign up for health insurance through the ACA, adjust their plans or cancel coverage.
Price jumps aren’t uncommon as insurers do raise premiums over time, but this year those increases will be larger due to the expiration of some enhanced premium tax credits.
“Health insurance has always been and continues to be very, very expensive,” said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor with Georgetown’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms. “But going into 2026, it’s only going to get more expensive.”
The tax credits were created in 2021 to essentially lower monthly out-of-pocket costs for ACA consumers, in some cases, all the way to $0. Congress did not extend them in the One Big Beautiful Bill in July, and an attempt to extend them now is one of the factors driving the government shutdown.
The average ACA marketplace consumer will likely pay about 100% more for coverage in 2026, according to a fact sheet from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
In Wyoming, the impacts will vary depending on income, demographics and other factors. According to Healthy Wyoming, a 60-year-old couple with an annual income of $82,000 will face an increase of $37,422 in annual health care costs due to the tax credit loss. The premium increase for a 45-year-old who earns $62,000 annually could be upwards of $6,000.
Less help, more paperwork
In the past, health “navigators” — professionals who guide customers through what can be a confusing open enrollment process — have been available largely thanks to federal funds. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, however, slashed that funding by 90% this year.
As a result, Enroll Wyoming, which offered free navigator help to those looking for insurance, experienced a significant budget cut. Despite paring down its staff from 10 individuals to just one full-time and one part-time employee, Enroll Wyoming will still offer services.
“Enroll Wyoming stresses that it will be still around to educate and empower consumers,” reads an August press release. Consumers can learn more about accessing those services here.
The nonprofit will have more emphasis on online and phone communication in its new iteration, the release says. “At the same time, Enroll Wyoming is building a statewide network of partners to provide more referral support.”
Consumers will also have fewer options. Mountain Health Co-op announced in August that it will no longer offer health plans in Wyoming at the end of the year. That means Wyoming will be down to just two providers.
Finally, people should brace for more paperwork, Corlette said. That can include filing extra forms or submitting paperwork to reflect any changes in income.
Stay informed, don’t rush
Enrollment opened Saturday. To get coverage starting Jan. 1, consumers must enroll in a plan by Dec. 15. If they enroll between Dec. 15 and the closing date of Jan. 15, coverage will start Feb. 1. If people are already enrolled and do nothing, they will be automatically re-enrolled in their plans.
The ACA marketplace only opened up what’s called “window shopping” two days before enrollment began, Corlette said, which means that it’s been hard for customers to suss out their new options.
“Also, the federal government told insurance companies that for this year only, they don’t have to include premium information in the notices that they send to consumers, which usually go out in October,” she added. That could further veil price changes.
“I can imagine some people will be taken by surprise,” she said. “This will be a uniquely challenging year.”
So what can people do?
First, Corlette said, they can contact their members of Congress to urge them to find more affordable solutions and let them know “the delay is not helping anyone.”
Next, she said, they should stay informed. “If you see your premium is unaffordable, don’t lose hope. There is still a chance that Congress will strike a deal here and provide premium relief.”
Folks can hold off until Dec. 15, Corlette noted; they don’t have to rush into anything.
If they do decide to leave the marketplace and look elsewhere, Corlette said, they should have caution.
“There’s a lot of junk out there and a lot of aggressive marketing, so just be careful,” she said, adding that using a local insurance broker who can meet in person is generally a good way to help sort the quality plans from those that don’t offer much financial protection.
What Corlette fears at this point is that “a lot of people will check their accounts, see their premium, get sticker shock, and say, ‘I can’t afford this,’ and walk away.
“And once they walk away, it’s really, really hard to get them to come back,” she said. “I think there’s still time for Congress to act, but probably too late to be sure that everybody stays insured.”
If people opt out of marketplace insurance, it would likely trigger even more cost increases. According to BlueCrossBlueShield Wyoming, when healthier people leave the marketplace, those who remain often require more care. That drives up costs for everyone.
Rising insurance costs are not sustainable. While some of us will be hurt immediately, a shrinking pool of insured means the rest of us will eventually pay more and there will be fewer rural hospitals. Regardless of which party is in power, as long as the US has a FOR-PROFIT, fragmented healthcare system, costs will continue to rise. Other wealthy countries pay about half what we pay for healthcare and have much healthier citizens because they have integrated, non-profit systems and access to care is universal. If we want more affordable healthcare with better outcomes, Americans need to get over their fear of what is pejoratively referred to as “socialized medicine.”
This doesn’t at all highlight how severe it is; our premium went from $600/mo to $3,000/mo (with a $10,000 deductible). Don’t rush into anything? The deadline is just a few weeks away, lol. The bottom line is, small business owners and the self-employed just won’t have insurance.
The debacle of Obama Care continues. Democrats promised my premiums would go down and I could keep my existing plan – all we had to do was pass the 2,500 page legislation to figure out what was in it.
Fast forward to 2025, my premiums are 3 times the money and we were forced out of our existing plan. Costs continue to rise and all you Obama Care proponents can do is blame it on Trump, tax cuts for the rich, etc, etc, etc.
Democrats had four years to fix this debacle and all they did was make it worse by giving more freebies out.
Keep throwing money at it, someday you will run out of other peoples money and wonder why you have a bigger disaster than the ACA
The gop plan to replace the ACA is still missing. Much like the integrity of the chrump sycophants.
Slurp slurp mr. Dickherson
The wealthiest country in the world and among the least in providing affordable heath care for its citizens. But give it a chance to provide grossly unfair tax breaks for the wealthiest, and it’s all in.
Something to keep in mind; the increased premiums are the original Obamacare plan. The one Republicans voted against. The one Democrats said would pay for itself 15 years ago when they installed it over Republican objections. Now they want us to go further into debt to prop up a plan that was flawed from the start and will bring the government to a grinding halt if we don’t. As Rahm Emanuel said, “Never let a crisis go to waste”.
Permanent tax breaks for corporations and the ultra wealthy are brilliant right?
Government is going to spend money. Doesn’t matter which side is in charge.
Personally, I’d rather see the country go into more debt while helping the most amount of people.
You and your party would rather see the country go into more debt only helping a select few.
Yes, Bruce, the Republicans voted against the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and then tried many times to kill it. They didn’t succeed in their many attempts because they had no better plan for providing affordable health care for Americans. Now it’s 2025 (soon to be 2026) and the Republicans still have no plan. To suggest that Americans would be better off if the ACA didn’t exist at all is absurd and dishonest.
Maybe if Republicans hadn’t killed the individual mandate, including everyone in the insurance pool, it could have worked as designed. Now it is clear that private insurance companies, with their big profits and stock buybacks and big CEO salaries do nothing but add unnecessary cost to the healthcare system, highlighting the fact that every developed country besides ours pays 1/2 of what we pay, and get better outcomes.
So much to unpack here. First, the only county that didn’t support Trump (Teton) is probably the one county that will be least impacted by this. That said, the rest of the state that supported him by 50%-90% will suffer the most and then try and blame someone else for their suffering. Be that as it may, uninsured people drive the cost up for all of us, that’s why in the past the Legislature made auto insurance mandatory. If your neighbor is suffering because they can’t afford adequate healthcare, it shouldn’t matter that it is a result of how they cast their ballot, they need help and it is time our Congressional delegation stepped out from behind Trump and put the people of Wyoming first. No more excuses, no more “yeah buts”, no more finger pointing. Restore the cuts and extend open enrollment so the people who elect you have an adequate opportunity to make an informed choice on their healthcare coverage. John, Cynthia, Harriet, it is not too late to do the right thing. Show us you ride for our brand, not Trump’s.
Mark, thank you….well written!
I’ve communicated numerous times with Senators Barrasso and Lummis. They say they think reducing health care costs needs to be the priority. Agreed, just don’t leave we WY residents using ACA coverage in the lurch with health care costs that simply are untenable ($20,000 in annual premiums for this single 58 year old with a $10,600 deductible) while real reform is implemented. PLEASE extend the enhanced tax credits until a better solution is in place and get to work on that solution NOW.
The Trump cult (and unfortunately everyone else) is going to learn some lessons.