New reporting from the News & Observer is laying out how North Carolinians will be hurt by Republicans’ refusal to fix the health care crisis they created, which will cause nearly 900,000 North Carolinians to see their health care premiums spike by double or more on average starting in January.
DC insider Michael Whatley has continued to cheer on Washington Republicans as they keep the government shut down instead of preventing a spike in health care costs.
Whatley has also championed the toxic GOP budget that guts Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians, calling it a “huge win.”
Read More:
News & Observer: Nearly 1 million in NC rely on ‘Obamacare’ plans tied to shutdown. What to know
Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi | October 13, 2025
- The federal government shutdown continues. And at the core of the stalemate between Republicans and Democrats over funding government services into October and beyond is a dispute over health care.
- Democrats want Republicans to reverse cuts and changes to Medicaid made under the federal reconciliation bill known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, and to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies to prevent premium increases for millions next year.
- If no action is taken to extend those subsidies, costs for some insurance is expected to rise — not as part of this shutdown, but starting Jan. 1.
- “The result of that is going to be significantly higher premiums for people in the marketplace in 2026 and some folks losing their subsidies altogether,” Norris said. Some people “will drop their coverage altogether because it’s no longer affordable,” she added.
- Insurers have requested the largest rate increases since 2018 for next year. “All of that is combining together to make it to where there could be some real sticker shock when people get their notifications from the marketplace,” Norris said.
- For 2026, some insurers in North Carolina have proposed steep premium hikes for marketplace plans — including nearly 40% by AmeriHealth Caritas, 29.4% at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, and 27.5% at Cigna, according to the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker.
- The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that, compared with coverage levels before Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill took effect, the law will leave 10 million more people uninsured by 2034 — including 7.5 million fewer with Medicaid coverage and 2.1 million fewer with marketplace plans.
- When those effects are combined with the scheduled expiration of the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits, the number of uninsured people is projected to increase by more than 14 million in 2034, KFF reported.
- KFF projects an average premium increase of about 114% if the enhanced subsidies expire, though the exact impact would vary depending on a person’s age, income and location.
###