Victor McQuillen and his wife have relied on an Affordable Care Act marketplace plan for their health insurance for most of the past decade.

This past year, it was a Blue Cross and Blue Shield silver policy that cost them about $300 a month. It saw them through health issues and the arrival of their newborn daughter.

But when the 40-year-old freelance live audio engineer logged in to renew for 2026, the number on his screen made him stop cold. The plan he’d been paying $300 a month for was now listed at roughly $2,000 a month.

“If you qualify for any ACA benefits, then there’s no way you can afford to spend $2,000 a month,” he said. “That’s really a joke. It’s not a real number. It might as well be $10,000.”

For McQuillen and thousands of others across the state, those “not real” numbe

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