With Obamacare open enrollment just days away on Nov. 1, some Western Slope residents are bracing for health-insurance premium spikes of more than 40 percent for 2018, while Congress continues to do partisan battle over whether to dismantle the law or just try to patch it up.

Colorado’s resort counties, saddled with some of the highest individual market rates in the nation the last several years, will see astronomical increases next year, with most counties limited to just one or two insurance providers. The majority of Coloradans get insurance through their employers, but small businesses and the self-employed face crippling rate increases, experts say.

In Eagle County, a family of five with teenagers will pay $2,040 a month for a Kaiser plan or $2,877 for an Anthem plan on the individual market, according to insurance broker Bethe Wright of The Wright Insurance Company in Eagle.

And those were the rates before President Donald Trump’s executive order earlier this month ending Obamacare’s Cost Sharing Reduction (CSR) payments for lower-income Americans. Now Wright says insurance companies will pass on those costs to all individual-market consumers, so anyone who already renewed for next year will see an additional increase.

“I am hearing premiums may increase an additional 6 to 10 percent over the already staggering renewal premiums,” Wright said. “This is a very emotional topic for all my clients and the 8 percent of Coloradans who purchase their own insurance.”

Republican Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner blames Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, but says he’s doing what he can to provide temporary relief despite the Senate’s failure this summer to repeal and replace the 2010 law.

“The Western Slope has been one of the hardest hit areas of Colorado from the failures of the Affordable Care Act as premiums have skyrocketed and are set to go up as much as 32 percent in some counties in the region next year,” Gardner said via a spokesman. “Facts like this are why I have voted to repeal this failed law.”

Last month Gardner introduced the Healthcare Tax Relief Act to continue for one more year the ongoing suspension of Obamacare’s Health Insurance Tax (HIT) – a fee paid by insurers on health policy premiums. Gardner testified about his bill on the Senate floor Wednesday.

“Without congressional action, this tax will cost individuals and families hundreds of dollars. I expect to have broad bipartisan support on this legislation, and will do everything I can to move it forward,” Gardner said, adding that he’s also monitoring and considering other Senate bills such as Murray-Alexander and Hatch-Brady aimed at shoring up Obamacare in the short term.

“There are some proposals being discussed that would try to make short-term fixes to slow the increase of premium prices,” Gardner said. “I’ll look at them and any other measures that try to fix this law, but we still need permanent solutions.”

Small businesses on the Western Slope, especially in high-priced resort areas, are being crushed by steadily rising insurance rates, according to local officials who backed a bipartisan plan proposed this summer by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

Hickenlooper, Kasich and eight other Democratic and Republican governors recently sent another letter urging the Senate to move quickly on a bill introduced by Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Democrat Sen. Patty Murray of Washington that would continue the CSR payments for two more years.

“Federal law requires insurers to provide discounted cost-sharing for lower income Americans,” the governors wrote. “With the elimination of federal payments for the Cost Sharing Reduction program, insurers are faced with significant financial losses, which could force them to withdraw from the marketplace, or, in some states, request significant rate increases.”

Trump alternately indicated both support and disapproval of Murray-Alexander over the course of three days earlier this month, making its future uncertain. Meanwhile, the administration also has cut the Obamacare enrollment period in half and slashed marketing budgets by 90 percent.

“American [people] fought to defend critical components of ACA, but @POTUS wants to sabotage it from within. Despicable,” Colorado U.S. Rep. Jared Polis tweeted on Wednesday, linking to a Washington Post story reporting those moves could cost more than 1 million Obamacare enrollees.

Polis, a Boulder Democrat who also represents resort areas in Summit and Eagle counties, signed on to a House version of Democratic Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet’s Medicare X bill, which would develop a public option on the Obamacare marketplaces and be rolled out first in places like rural Colorado with only one or two private insurance options.

“It builds on the successes of Medicare by allowing individuals and small businesses to choose among existing private insurance plans and a public one,” Polis said of the House version of Medicare X. “In my home district, this is especially important, where options for rural and mountain counties are limited.”

But the various legislative fixes are unlikely to positively impact rates for 2018, so Connect For Health Colorado – the state’s Obamacare marketplace – is urging people to check out all of their options starting Nov. 1.

“We know the current climate has been confusing for many of our customers and stakeholders,” Connect for Health Colorado Chief Executive Kevin Patterson said in a release. “The bottom line is the story is the same. Everyone who buys their own insurance can benefit from taking time to review the health plan options available to them and to check their eligibility for financial help.”

For instance, that family of five making $110,000 in Eagle County would qualify for a $1,680 a month Advanced Premium Tax Credit under Obamacare next year, insurance broker Wright says, as long as they don’t show a net income in excess of $115, 120. Their deductible would be $5,500, with a maximum out of pocket of $6,550.

“Those that don’t get tax credits are going to be struggling,” Wright said. “Small group is still less expensive than individual, so we will see more small businesses flocking back to group plans in 2018.”

Anyone in Colorado in need of an individual plan should go to the ConnectforHealthCO.com website starting Nov. 1 and sign up by Dec. 15 in order to have insurance in place for 2018.