Idahoans have a week to enroll on exchange

Idahoans have a week to pick or switch health insurance plans on the state's exchange, as open enrollment for Your Health Idaho ends Dec. 15.

And unless Congress extends tax credits that deeply subsidize health insurance costs, Idahoans' average premiums are expected to double on the exchange next year, possibly prompting thousands to cancel their policies.

It'll take time to see the full impact. Idahoans usually enroll in insurance plans on the exchange during the last week of open enrollment, Your Health Idaho Executive Director Pat Kelly said in an interview last week.

"Last year, we saw more than half of our enrollment occurred in the last seven days of open enrollment, and a third of that occurs on the very last day. So it's always a little bit hard to tell where we will ultimately end up until we are completely done with open enrollment," he told the Idaho Capital Sun.

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on a bill by Democrats that would extend the enhanced premium tax credits for three years. But the bill likely doesn't have enough bipartisan support to pass, States Newsroom reported.

In Idaho, Kelly expects 25,000 people will cancel their policies if the subsidies aren't renewed. About 87% of the roughly 116,000 Idahoans who have insurance through the state exchange get the enhanced tax credits, according to a report by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The enhanced premium tax credits ensure people don't pay more than 8.5% of their income on health insurance for benchmark plans.

Almost 60% of Americans enrolled in health insurance through Affordable Care Act marketplaces say they can't afford a $300 annual rise in their premiums, a poll released last week by the nonpartisan health organization KFF found.