Your Health Idaho is in open enrollment. Insurance premiums hikes might be tamped down

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — For about the next month, Idahoans can enroll in health insurance plans on the state’s exchange.

As health insurance premiums continue to grow, Idaho’s exchange, Your Health Idaho, is the only place that Idahoans can go to get private health insurance discounted by the federal government. 

For some Idahoans, that discount — in the form of a tax credit — might shield them from the average of 12% premium rises for plans on the exchange, said Your Health Idaho Executive Director Pat Kelly. That’s because the tax credit is linked to the cost of one slate of plans, the silver, he said. 

“We’re actually seeing net premiums — which is the amount consumers pay after the tax credit is applied — we’re seeing those net premiums either flat or declining in 2027,” Kelly said in an interview.

He offered a few examples of how that could work. A single person in Ada County earning $36,000 a year might pay $8 less in premiums. If that person lived in the Magic Valley, they might pay $30 less in premiums, he said. 

“Health insurance, for those that receive a tax credit, is an incredible affordability story this year,” Kelly said. “They’re actually seeing plans that are either the same net premium cost from ‘26 to ‘27, or actually a decrease, which is just unheard of these days.”

But he stressed that the tax credit’s application depends on your family’s specifics: Where you live, how big your household is, and how much you make. So he encouraged Idahoans to use Your Health Idaho’s online tool to estimate how much of a tax credit they’d receive. 

Congress last year didn’t renew bigger discounts on federal and state exchanges, but there are still smaller discounts baked into the federal Affordable Care Act, which led to the exchanges’ creation. The end of the enhanced premium tax credits last year led about 25,000 Idahoans to cancel plans on the state exchange, Your Health Idaho estimated. 

Next year marks the second consecutive year of double digit premium rate increases across Your Health Idaho plans. 

When is open enrollment? And how do I sign up and shop around?

Open enrollment for Your Health Idaho lasts until Dec. 15. The cutoff that day is 11:59 p.m. Mountain time. Coverage for new plans starts Jan. 1.

On the exchange, Idahoans can pick from 143 medical plans and 32 dental plans from 12 insurance companies. 

At the state exchange’s website, you can shop for plans, see how much in a tax credit you could qualify for, use an affordability tool and find an agent or broker who can help you free of cost. Find pop-up enrollment centers hosted by Your Health Idaho online. 

Your Health Idaho officials say you shouldn’t wait until the last minute to enroll. For the most part, open enrollment is the last time that Idahoans can enroll in Your Health Idaho before next fall, unless they have a qualifying life event. 

“Start early, bring your questions, and let a local expert help you find coverage that fits your life and your budget,” Marcia Benton, a broker in Meridian, said in a written statement. 

New immigration policies for federal, state exchanges

As part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act, new restrictions will apply for immigrants who are legally in the United States. Even before the new regulations, undocumented immigrants were not eligible for federally funded health coverage, according to KFF, a health policy research group.

Starting next year, the new federal law will cut coverage for marketplace subsidies for many types of immigrants who are lawfully living in the U.S., including refugees and people who applied or were granted asylum or withheld deportation, according to the National Immigration Law Center. 

Under the law, the immigrants who aren’t U.S. citizens who can access subsidies for health insurance on exchanges include: lawful permanent residents or green card holders, entrants from Cuba or Haiti, and people who are living in the U.S. under Compacts of Free Association, which cover residents of certain South Pacific nations formerly under U.S. control, according to KFF.