Almost exactly a year ago I began my 2025 ACA Open Enrollment Period guide with the following words:

This is the best OEP ever for the ACA for several reasons:

  • The expanded/enhanced premium subsidies first introduced in 2021 via the American Rescue Plan, which make premiums more affordable for those who already qualified while expanding eligibility to millions who weren't previously eligible, are continuing through the end of 2025 via the Inflation Reduction Act;
  • A dozen states are either launching, continuing or expanding their own state-based subsidy programs to make ACA plans even more affordable for their enrollees;
  • 100,000 or more DACA recipients are finally eligible to enroll in ACA exchange plans & receive financial assistance!

What a difference a year can make.

via NY State of Health:

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James and Department of Health (DOH) Commissioner Dr. James McDonald today issued a consumer alert warning New Yorkers about common health insurance scams as 2026 open enrollment begins through the NY State of Health Marketplace. Health insurance scams spike during open enrollment periods, and the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and DOH are providing consumers with tips to protect themselves against potential scams.

“As health care costs skyrocket and federal support hangs in the balance, access to affordable health insurance is more important than ever,” said Attorney General James. “We cannot allow predatory scammers to swindle New Yorkers out of their hard-earned money. I urge all New Yorkers to remain vigilant and contact my office if they believe they are the target of a scam or fraud. My office will always work to hold bad actors and fraudsters accountable.”

BeWell NM, New Mexico's ACA exchange, is the first out of the gate to report hard enrollment data for 2026:

New Mexico Open Enrollment 2026 - Enrollment Summary

Last Refreshed On: November 12th 2025

Officially, they're reporting 70,485 Qualified Health Plan (QHP) enrollments already, which is actually slightly higher than the 70,373 which they ended with during the 2025 Open Enrollment Period (OEP) last January.

HOWEVER...and this is a major caveat...that 70,485 includes all current enrollees being auto-renewed for 2026, which doesn't really count for my purposes. Most state exchanges used to hold off on lumping in the auto-renewals until after the initial December deadline, only reporting current enrollees who actively re-enroll along with new enrollees.

When I look at it that way, I get:

IMPORTANT: Premium Alignment is NOT a substitute for making the enhanced ACA tax credits permanent. It does little to help the lowest-income folks who are still better off with Silver plans thanks to robust CSR assistance, and the benefits of it will be mediocre for those over 400% FPL if the enhanced tax credits expire.

Even for those it benefits the most (primarily those who earn between 200 - 400% FPL),  it's a complement to the upgraded subsidies, not a replacement for them.

HOWEVER, it's still hugely helpful to those who know how to take advantage of it, and particularly in the states newly implementing it, it should relieve a huge portion of the pain being caused by the enhanced APTC expiring next month.

via Covered California:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California Executive Director Jessica Altman issued the following statement on Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s announcement of her retirement on Thursday:

“After nearly four decades of unmatched public service, Speaker Emerita Pelosi leaves behind a legacy that continues to affect the lives of millions of Americans every day.

“Speaker Emerita Pelosi was one of the architects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the driving force in making sure the landmark legislation became the law of the land in 2010.

“She was again the speaker of the House when the current Enhanced Premium Tax Credits were passed in 2021, further bringing down costs for consumers and making health insurance more affordable and accessible to more Americans than ever.

“Thanks to the speaker emerita’s tireless efforts, enrollment in Affordable Care Act marketplaces has more than doubled nationwide and currently provides health care coverage to over 24 million Americans, including nearly 2 million here in California.

via NV Health Link:

Nevadans can now enroll in health insurance for 2026: 140 Qualified Health Plans from eight insurance carriers and new Battle Born State Plans for Nevadans to choose from

CARSON CITY, Nev. (November 3, 2025) – On November 1, Nevada Health Link kicked off the Open Enrollment Period for Plan Year 2026 with 140 Qualified Health Plans through eight brand-name private insurance carriers, including the new state-approved Battle Born State Plans (BBSPs). Nevadans can view, compare and shop plans now through January 15, 2026 on NevadaHealthLink.com.

New this year, Nevada Health Link will offer Battle Born State Plans or BBSPs.

Like all plans on the Marketplace, BBSPs will cover all ten essential health benefits, including hospitalization, doctor visits, emergency care, lab work and prescription drugs. These plans are required to be offered statewide, while also meeting specific reduction targets to bring costs down. This is especially significant for Nevadans living in rural areas, who will have more options this year when selecting a plan.

Health insurance carriers include:

via NY State of Health:

New “Yes, NY” Campaign Encouraging New Yorkers to Enroll in Quality, Affordable Health Coverage

Open Enrollment for 2026 Qualified Health Plans Began November 1 and Ends January 31, 2026

Enhanced Dental Benefits Introduced for 2026

ALBANY, NY (November 6, 2025) – The New York State Department of Health today announced the start of Open Enrollment for 2026 health insurance coverage through NY State of Health, the Official Health Plan Marketplace, launching a new statewide “Yes, NY” campaign to encourage New Yorkers to enroll in affordable, high-quality health coverage. Open enrollment runs from November 1, 2025, to January 31, 2026.

via GetCovered Illinois:

Amid federal health care changes negatively impacting Americans, Get Covered Illinois is here to help.

CHICAGO – Get Covered Illinois kicked off 2026 open enrollment and launched its “Here to Help” campaign across the state.

Open enrollment, which began on November 1 and runs through January 15, is the annual opportunity for Illinoisans to enroll in, renew, or change their health insurance plans. Nearly 466,000 Illinoisans purchased health coverage through Get Covered Illinois during open enrollment last year, a 17% increase from the previous year.

This year, Illinoisans will experience a new marketplace. Enrollees will apply for and enroll directly on GetCoveredIllinois.gov now that Illinois has officially transitioned to a state-based marketplace. They will also have access to increased support that is more tailored to their needs.

I've written multiple times in the past about "Silver Loading," the ACA health insurance policy pricing strategy in which insurance carriers load the extra cost of their Cost Sharing Reduction financial burden (the portion of deductibles, co-pays & coinsurance which they're required to cover themselves for low-income enrollees who select Silver plans) onto the gross premium of those same Silver plans.

It gets a bit wonky, but the bottom line is that Silver Loading results in the gross price of Silver ACA plans increasing significantly even if the price of Bronze, Gold & Platinum plans only go up modestly. This may sound bad, but stay with me.

From the carriers perspective, how the CSR load is allocated doesn't matter much as long as they aren't left stuck with the bill...but pricing the plans in this fashion has major implications for the enrollees themselves.

For nearly a year now, I've been writing about the upcoming expiration of the enhanced ACA premium tax credits (eAPTC) which have been in place for the past five years. They're currently scheduled to expire at the end of December, less than 2 months from today.

I spent most of the year posting projected estimates of how much more different households will have to pay.

More recently, as the actual 2026 premium rate filings have been published, I revised those estimates with more accurate data.

Over the past few weeks as the various ACA exchange websites brought their 2026 ACA window shopping live, I've started plugging in different household scenarios to see what actual, real world price hikes look like.

Throughout all of these examples, however, two things have remained consistent:

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