Nearly half a million Illinois residents who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act were at the center of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Most rely on enhanced tax credits to make their Obamacare insurance premiums more affordable. If the credits expire at the end of the year, as planned, experts predict insurance costs will skyrocket, forcing some to become uninsured.

Democrats had pushed to make the government reopening contingent on extending those credits. But the deal passed Wednesday night by the U.S. House and signed by the president only comes with a commitment by Senate Republicans to hold a vote by mid-December to extend the credits. Speaker Mike Johnson has not committed to bring it for a vote in the House.

On average, Illinois residents are exp

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