'Obamacare' prices public, highlighting big increases.

A storefront offering insurance through "Obamacare" is seen in Miami on Oct. 18. The New York Times.

By REED ABELSON AND MARGOT SANGER-KATZ | THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Donald Trump administration has released a preview of the available plans sold through "Obamacare" marketplaces in 30 states, giving Americans who buy their own health insurance a first look at just how much prices would go up.

Insurers have increased rates significantly for next year - an average of about 30% for a typical plan in the 30 states where the federal government manages markets and an average of 17% in states that run their own markets, according to a new analysis from KFF, the health research group.

But the biggest impact for nearly all Americans covered by "Obamacare" plans will occur with the expiration of generous subsidies at the end of the year unless Congress extends them. Prices on the government's website, healthcare.gov reflect that change using calculations based on a return to the lower subsidy levels offered before 2021.

The extra funding helped make insurance effectively free for poorer Americans and offered financial help for the first time for people earning more than four times the federal poverty level, or about $64,000 for a single person. If the funding expires, costs will go up for more than 20 million Americans who currently buy their own insurance in the marketplaces established under the Affordable Care Act. Most customers will still qualify for federal help, but at a lower level established under the original program.

The looming expiration of those subsidies has been a key sticking point in congressional wrangling over the government shutdown, which has lasted nearly a month. Democrats have demanded an extension of the subsidies as a condition of supporting legislation funding the entire government. Republican leaders say they will not discuss the issue until the government is reopened.

About 27 million Americans are uninsured. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the expiring subsidies will add 2 million more people to that total next year, and other analyses have estimated even larger reductions in coverage.

In a news release, federal officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that oversees ACA enrollment, said that most people seeking coverage would still have access to plans that costs $50 or less a month, even with reduced subsidies.

"There can be a lot of hair pulling and scratching, mudslinging, but the fundamental reality for most Americans is that, although it is an increase in spending, that's not the big issue," said Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, at a news conference Wednesday. "The big issue is the fundamental flaws within the ACA, as they were created 15 years ago."

Since Congress first passed the extra subsidies in 2021, enrollment in the markets has doubled. Growth has been especially robust in the South, with sign-ups more than tripling in the Republican-controlled states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia and West Virginia.

The higher premiums published this week reflect a mix of factors, many tied to rising drug and hospital costs in the health care system itself. In state filings, insurers noted increased hospital prices, increased use of GLP-1 drugs to treat diabetes and obesity, and the impact of tariffs. But insurance companies also said they raised prices for "Obamacare" plans to offset the possibility that costs would rise if the expiring subsidies discouraged younger, healthier customers from staying enrolled.

Sue Monahan, a former university administrator in Oregon who is now retired, is one of the many Americans who face a steep increase if the enhanced subsidies expire. Monahan, 61, paid $439 a month for her coverage in 2025 after receiving a federal tax credit that covers roughly half the premiums for her plan.

When she went to shop for next year's plan, she learned that the monthly cost would jump to $1,059 for the same plan with an annual deductible of $7,100.

Monahan said that as a former kidney donor, going without insurance is not an option.