North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread has approved 2026 rates for Affordable Care Act insurance plans, but says consumers could be paying significantly higher monthly premiums if Congress doesn’t act soon.
In a release from his office, Godfread said they asked companies to submit rates based on the assumption that enhanced subsidies – which expire at the end of this year – would continue. The federal government is currently shutdown in a deadlock over whether or not to extend those subsidies. Godfread told Prairie Public earlier this week, he supports the extension of the subsidies now, and a continuing discussion on reforms going forward.
"When they enhanced these subsidies, we really saw an uptick in farmers, ranchers and small business owners being able to access this market, which is really, really important - not only for themselves, but for their families," Godfread said. "We obviously support having health insurance; you're generally only one medical catastrophe away from facing medical bankruptcy, and insurance helps provide some protection against that. It's a big deal, and Congress still has time to fix it. I'm hopeful reasonable minds will come together, government will reopen, and we can have the conversation about quickly extending these subsidies as fast as we can. But again... that window continues to close, as we enter November 1st for the open enrollment period."
Godfread said they also requested rates to reflect the expiration of those subsidies. He says North Dakotans deserve to know what is driving the potential changes in these health care costs.
For the 2026 year, Godfread approved the following average base rate changes for the small group market:
-UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company: 8.29%
-Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota: 6.3%
-Sanford Health Plan: 3.91%
-Medica Insurance Company: 7.89%
Rates approved for individual health plans for 2026:
-Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota: 8.3%
-Sanford Health Plan: 5.12%
-Medica Health Plan: 23.09%