If we were living in normal times, ACA affordability would be the top issue. The plight of folks whose health care costs were exploding due to the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits (PTCs) would be all over the media. It is the type of human interest story that people find irresistible: The sad plight of folks faced with the choice of putting food on the table, paying for heat or their health insurance premiums would be a staple of CNN and MS Now (not so much on Fox, however). These stories would be juxtaposed against tales of the riches flowing to the top one percent.

Of course, we are not living in normal times. The world in which we live features a president who may or may not invade Greenland, where Minneapolis is occupied and it’s okay to flip off a protester.

At the end of the day, however, ACA affordability is a vital issue to millions of Americans. Indeed, being able to go to the doctor or get a procedure without emptying what already may be a modest bank account is of far more immediate importance to families than geopolitics, the breaking of norms or what is happening in a far-away city.

The differences between premiums people paid last year and are paying in now are stark. The above health insurance cost calculator (which covers the 50 states, D.C. and five territories) was created by ChatGPT. It does not provide definitive answers. It does, however, put the issue in real terms.

The health insurance cost calculator comes with all the usual disclaimers. ChatGPT makes the point that the figures it provides are just best guesses and are based on unofficial sources. It adds that the quotes for the territories should be taken with a slightly larger grain of salt because the raw data are more obscure.

That said, the health insurance cost calculator illustrates the point that we are living in a new and quite expensive world due to the termination of the enhanced PTCs. Average monthly premiums rose from $611 to $724 between this year and 2025. That $113 total represents an increase of 18.5%. If the enhanced PTCs still were in place, the average monthly premium would have been between $100 and $300, an increase of $5 to $20 per month (5% to 7%) compared to 2025.

ACA Affordability is a Huge Deal

This post is aimed at folks who still need to be convinced that voting is important. It is clear that the fate of the enhanced PTCs was decided by the election of 2024. They still would exist if the Democrats had won the White House and/or either the Senate or the House of Representatives. It’s not an arguable point. It’s also a near certainty that people have died because they had to drop their insurance and couldn’t get proper care.

The failure of a significant portion of the eligible voters to do so is one of the main the reason we are struggling as a nation. A reversal by this group It is one of the ways out of the mess. Please vote.