As we heard, millions of Americans who rely on health plans under the Affordable Care Act could see their premiums increase if Congress doesn't extend key tax credits.

And some could lose their insurance altogether.

William Brangham has more on that part of the story.

Omna, these enhanced tax credits were expanded during the pandemic to make health insurance more affordable for people who buy ACA or Obamacare plans.

More than 20 million people enrolled in Marketplace plans in 2024, which is a record high, and most of them receive these credits.

The credits were set to expire at the end of 2022, but were then

extended as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. So for more on what this means for health

care in America and what it costs, I'm joined by Cynthia Cox. She's vice president and director

of the program on the ACA at KFF.

Cynthia Cox, thank you so much for being here.

We still don't know what's going to happen with these negotiations,

but let's say that these tax credits are not extended,

and open enrollment begins very, very soon.

What is likely to happen?

What will happen if these enhanced premium tax credits are not extended by Congress

is that millions of people are going to log on to health care.gov or their state's marketplace,

and they're going to see that their premiums for next year are doubling. On average,

we're expecting people to pay about twice as much as they're currently

paying for health insurance if they want to keep the same plan. They might be able to get a

lower cost plan or pay a little bit less than what they otherwise would have to pay, but that

might mean getting a deductible that's several thousand dollars. And do we have a sense of how many people could see those staggeringly high increases in

their premiums and sort of what slice of the population that might be?

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