With health insurance premiums expected to rise, here’s how to prepare for ACA open enrollment

Saturday marks the start of the open enrollment period for Americans who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. And with pandemic-era health insurance subsidies set to expire at the end of this year, premiums are expected to spike.

Extending those tax subsidies is the central demand from Democrats in the negotiations over the ongoing government shutdown.

In Wisconsin, more than 310,000 people purchased their 2025 health insurance through the ACA marketplace, according to the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance. On Monday, the office released its 2026 projections for how much premiums will go up for select groups of enrollees. Gov. Tony Evers said insurance rates for many covered through Wisconsin’s ACA exchange will increase by between 200 to 800 percent next year…