Why the ACA needs young people -- and the looming 'death spiral' for health insurance [View all]

(NPR) Chloe Chalakani has a lot at stake in the health care fight at the heart of the government shutdown.

Chalakani runs a small culinary business with her partner in the coastal town of Thomaston, Maine. As temperatures drop and the height of her busy tourist season winds down, she's hitting her list of fall administrative tasks, including health insurance enrollment. She uses CoverME.gov, the Affordable Care Act marketplace in Maine, also known as Obamacare.

Her options for 2026 are looking grim.

"My premium is already $460 a month, and that is for the highest deductible plan that exists," she says. She's 31 years old and fairly healthy. Extra financial help with premiums — in the form of enhanced tax credits — expires in December, and rates are going up.

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/10/26/nx-s1-5577940/health-insurance-government-shutdown-aca-open-enrollment-death-spiral