A key sticking point in ongoing negotiations to fund the government is upcoming reductions in the premium tax credit (PTC). While some claim that negotiations over extending the PTC enhancements can wait until later, the timelines for health insurance rate-setting and Marketplace enrollment mean that the harms from the expected reductions start accruing well before the new plan year.

Even if the enhancements were extended tomorrow, millions of people now inevitably face higher premiums for 2026, because insurance companies have finalized their rates assuming that smaller PTCs will push healthy people out. While it is certainly not “too late” for action to support 2026 coverage, the immediate harms will grow quickly in the weeks ahead. By mid-October, millions of people will learn that they face drastically higher out-of-pocket premiums, leading to cancellations and decisions to stay uninsured that will be impossible to fully reverse. These delays also impose financial costs on insurance companies, Marketplaces, and state regulators that consumers and taxpayers ultimately bear.