Companies offering Obamacare health insurance plans are requesting a 14% median increase to premiums over 2026 rates, according to data from health policy research group KFF. This proposed rate for 2027 represents the second-highest increase since 2018.
Rising Medical Costs and Inflation
Insurers expect the pool of patients with greater medical needs to increase premiums by 4% next year as healthy members continue to drop coverage in 2027. Wider economic inflation, rising costs of medications, and increased consolidation of medical providers are also driving the increase in premiums, KFF said.
Obamacare enrollment declined 13% in 2026, from 22.1 million people in 2025, after the expiration of extra subsidies meant to help people keep coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Health and Human Services now estimates 19.2 million Americans are enrolled in the plans created by President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Most marketplace enrollees making less than 400% of the federal poverty level still qualify for subsidies. Insurers, including Centene and UnitedHealth, have flagged elevated medical costs in their Obamacare businesses this year.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
