Massive ACA price hikes revealed as Georgia Access window shopping opens early
Window shopping for 2026 health insurance has opened early on Georgia Access, the Affordable Care Act marketplace exchange that covers 1.5 million Georgians. Open enrollment, when people can purchase plans, begins Nov. 1. The ACA is also known as Obamacare.
Georgia shoppers can now see the price hikes they’ll pay for coverage that starts Jan. 1. The prices for ACA consumers are spiking nationwide partly because Jan. 1 is also the day “enhanced” ACA subsidies, passed by Congress during the pandemic, are set to expire.
One forecast previously predicted a 60-year-old couple in Fulton County making $85,000 could see their monthly premium for a silver plan increase from about $602 to $2200 without the enhanced subsidies.
Now that prices are posted, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter looked at the actual Georgia Access offerings for such a couple. The 2026 silver plan premiums to choose from ranged between $2,600 and $4,800 per month. That lowest-premium silver plan offered a deductible of $10,000.
A couple making a combined $85,000 doesn’t qualify for any federal help under original 2013 ACA subsidy rules that will be in effect if the enhanced subsidies expire.
Shoppers with a Georgia Access account can search their options and prices by signing in, starting on the GeorgiaAccess.gov homepage. For Georgians who don’t have an account, the link to browse is https://enroll.georgiaaccess.gov/prescreener/.
This year’s window shopping started early — it usually happens the last week of October. Independent web broker sites where Georgians can also purchase insurance may not have window shopping, but they must go live by Nov. 1.
Prices in Georgia are expected to increase the most for those who are older and just above middle-income, and for those just above the poverty level. Many deductibles will also soar.
But extending the subsidies would come at a cost to taxpayers: About $350 billion over 10 years, according to an updated estimate from the Congressional Budget Office.
President Donald Trump and his GOP allies have been cutting health spending, not increasing it. They say they aim to reverse “waste, fraud and abuse” and give tax breaks.
Congress has currently shut down the federal government largely over Democrats’ demand the subsidies be extended.
As a result of the price hikes, combined with other changes under Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill Act tax and spending law, about 460,000 Georgians are expected to drop Georgia Access health insurance next year and go uninsured, according to the health research organization KFF.
Nationwide, the Congressional Budget Office expects the expiring enhanced subsidies alone to prompt 3.8 million people to go uninsured.
The forecasts have jumped around as Congress, Trump and the courts have made big and small changes to the subsidies, decreasing the time to enroll and new paperwork requirements. The Georgia Office of the Commissioner of Insurance had to assemble several sets of possible prices to post, depending on the facts of the moment.
Georgia Access policyholder Amy Bielawski of Tucker is one of those lower-income policyholders likely to see high-impact price increases. She refuses to look yet.
Bielawski is self-employed, and said she’s afraid of a premium hike she can’t afford. Bielawski also said she’s afraid her income next year could fall below the poverty level, rendering her ineligible for ACA coverage.
Bielawski’s company of 31 years, Hare-Brained Productions, provides event entertainment like singing telegrams, face painting, balloon sculpting, bouncy houses and magic shows.
For years, Bielawski went without health insurance. In 2021, after the enhanced subsidies kicked in, she said, she found that an ACA plan was in her price range. Getting insurance was “miraculous,” she said, allowing her to go to the doctor and buy medication for her chronic thyroid condition rather than relying on herbs she found recommended online.
Bielawski said she may need to go uninsured again next year, if she is faced with even modest cost increases.
“I’ve got to pay regular bills,” she said. “I’ve got a $5,000 property tax bill. And $1,000 mortgage insurance. So it’s like, do I want a place to live? That’s kind of where it’s at.”
Problems could come from another direction, too, she said. Her bookings are slowing down, and she will not be eligible for ACA coverage if her income drops below the federal poverty level of $15,650. That might qualify her for Georgia’s Pathways to Coverage Medicaid program, but not if her work falls below 80 hours a month.
Open enrollment ends Jan. 15.
“I’m stressed out every freaking day,” Bielawski said.
GEORGIA ACCESS WINDOW SHOPPING
Window shopping is open early on GeorgiaAccess.gov for Affordable Care Act plans, also known as Obamacare. In Georgia, the marketplace is run by the state and called Georgia Access. Shoppers can look now to see prices for 2026 coverage. Traditionally, window shopping doesn’t start until the last week of October, so other places where people buy their plans, like web brokers, may not be open yet.
When: People can buy 2026 coverage from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15. After open enrollment closes they can’t buy plans unless they have an approved reason, like moving to a new state.
What: Subsidized insurance on the ACA exchange. Prices will still be acceptable for many people. Those who make from 100% to 400% of the poverty level are eligible for some federal subsidies. Georgia also subsidizes the state’s exchange.
Where: Starting Nov. 1, Georgians will be able to buy plans on GeorgiaAccess.gov, or private web broker sites like HealthSherpa.com, or private agents or the insurance companies themselves. Right now, window shopping is limited. People can find 2026 window shopping on the Georgia Access website itself, either by signing in at GeorgiaAccess.gov or, if they don’t have an account, browsing at this link.
Warning: That’s GeorgiaAccess.gov. It’s not .org or .com. Companies have bought those other addresses and posted content that may appear to be the state’s insurance portal, but it is not.
About the Author
Ariel Hart is a reporter on health care issues. She works on the AJC’s health team and has reported on subjects including the Voting Rights Act and transportation.
