Overview

• Congress triggered a partial shutdown after the Senate rejected both parties’ funding plans, with Republicans urging a short-term reopening bill to Nov. 21 and Democrats withholding votes without health policy changes.
• Enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits expire at year’s end without action, and KFF estimates average out-of-pocket premiums would jump 114% next year, or about $1,016, for subsidized enrollees.
• Roughly 24 million people are enrolled in marketplace plans and the vast majority receive subsidies, putting tens of millions at risk of higher costs or lost coverage if the credits lapse.
• Democrats also seek to reverse Medicaid cuts in the GOP’s summer law, which the Congressional Budget Office says would help drive about 10 million more people to become uninsured over the next decade.
• Timing pressure is rising with open enrollment starting Nov. 1 and insurers finalizing 2026 rates, and claims that Democrats aim to subsidize coverage for undocumented immigrants are false.