Two prominent Kentucky Democrats are warning of sticker shock when open enrollment begins Saturday, Nov. 1, for those purchasing health insurance on the individual market.
Kentuckians who buy coverage on the state-based exchange, Kynect, will face 37% higher premiums starting in January, according to estimates from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
For a family of four earning $130,000 annually, that could mean an additional $12,000 for health insurance. That’s on top of the household budget strains already being caused by inflation and tariffs.
In a news conference on Tuesday alongside U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey of Louisville, Gov. Andy Beshear pressed Congress to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, a central issue to the current government shutdown.
“This is not a political issue and the American people should not be used as a negotiating tool," Beshear said.
In September, Beshear sent a letter, also signed by 17 other governors from across the nation, calling on Congressional leaders to extend the credits.
Rep. McGarvey noted half of the 100,000 Kentuckians who get insurance through Kynect are at risk of becoming uninsured, including Ann Pipes of Louisville who recently called his office.
Pipes is a self-employed real estate appraiser with asthma and an autoimmune disease. She and her husband are projected to pay an additional $900 in monthly premiums if the tax credits aren’t renewed before they expire at the end of the year.
“This will be the first time in my adult life I won’t have health insurance if this doesn’t get solved," Pipes said Tuesday. "My primary care doctor and I are having conversations about what kind of care I need to squeeze in before the end of the year. I’m starting to ration medication.”
Democrats are reluctant to support a stopgap funding bill that would reopen the government if it doesn't include an extension. Republicans argue the tax credits were meant to expire after the pandemic and they’re not willing to negotiate an extension unless Congress passes a clean funding bill.
But one Bowling Green man says his household is in limbo. Cody Kemmer works for a non-profit and doesn’t have access to medical insurance through his job.
He has purchased coverage on Kentucky’s health insurance marketplace since 2022. Kemmer says he doesn't know if he can afford to choose a plan with open enrollment just days away.
"We know the premiums are going to have one of the biggest increases in years but we don’t know how much support we’re going to receive to help soften the blow," Kemmer told WKU Public Radio. “It’s hard for me to hear people in Congress say we’ll wait until December to figure that out. These are conversations that families are having to have right now."
Kynect covers small-business owners, older Americans not yet eligible for Medicare and rural Kentuckians who make more than Medicaid recipients but don’t have workplace-sponsored health insurance.
Open enrollment takes place from Nov. 1 until Jan. 15, 2026.
