With health insurance open enrollment kicking off Saturday, Tara and Todd Nicklous were stunned to discover that their health insurance premium purchased through the Affordable Care Act will skyrocket from $923 to a jaw-dropping $3,264 per month next year.

“My gut sunk,” Tara Nicklous, 56, said.

The couple, who run a real estate appraisal business, had qualified for coverage after former President Joe Biden expanded Affordable Care Act tax credits during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and for the next four years. Those credits, set to expire at the end of the year, are now at the heart of the ongoing federal government shutdown. Democrats won’t vote to reopen the federal government unless Republicans extend the credits, and Republicans refuse to negotiate until the government reopens.

Pa

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