Clark County residents warned to brace for health insurance rate hikes next year

Jun. 9—Clark County residents can expect to pay more for health insurance again next year as companies ask the state insurance commissioner to consider approving an average 22.4 percent rate increase for individual plans.

Rachel Lauser, co-owner of Vancouver-based Applied TEAM Insurance, an authorized Washington Health Benefit Exchange Enrollment Center, said that the rate increases are preliminary and the final rates approved by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner in September usually come back lower.

Last year, the primary health insurers in Clark County — Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest and Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon — received rate approvals below their requested increases.

For example, Kaiser requested an 11 percent increase for individual plans and ultimately got approval for a 6 percent increase, according to a tracker from the state insurance commissioner. Regence requested a 25 percent increase for individual plans and was approved for 23 percent.

However, that's not always the case. Approved rate increases have also exceeded insurers' initial proposals.

"If a consumer is buying insurance individually right now, they have been seeing this consistently for the last few years," Lauser said of rate increases. "It's not going to be a surprise to them."

Lauser said the limited options in the health insurance market are driving up costs for Clark County residents, affecting those who are self-employed, early retirees or even middle-income families.

While Molina Healthcare recently joined the Clark County market, it is fighting to compete with Regence's and Kaiser Permanente's more robust networks, benefits and prices, Lauser said.

A high utilization rate, which is the metric measuring how often residents file frequent or costly claims, can also hike up premiums from insurers.

The prospective rate increase comes as Clark County residents are already struggling to afford the cost of health insurance.

"(Most people) are already on the least expensive plan," Lauser said. "There's nowhere to go if they take a 20 percent rate increase. I don't have anything less expensive at all."

The average gross premium for qualified health plan coverage and Medicaid in Washington's 3rd Congressional District is the highest in the state, according to a May report from the Washington Health Benefit Exchange.

This year, the average gross premium in the district was $820, compared to $700 in 2025. The 3rd District includes Clark, Lewis, Pacific, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz and Skamania counties. Other congressional districts in the state saw significant increases to their average gross premium, but none as high.

The number of Clark County residents who either selected or reenrolled in a qualified health plan this year decreased, mirroring statewide trends. Qualified health plans are available on Washington Healthplanfinder to state residents who are not covered by other means, such as through an employer, family member or federal program.

This spring, 18,547 Clark County residents enrolled in a qualified health plan compared to last spring's 20,887 — an 11 percent decrease, according to data from the benefit exchange.

Washington Health Benefit Exchange Chief of Communications Tara Lee said in a news release that federal policy changes have created a healthcare affordability crisis in the state.

In November, Democrats and Republicans in Congress agreed on a spending bill that ended a 43-day federal government shutdown but didn't reach a deal to extend expiring federal tax credits that offset the cost of premiums on some Affordable Care Act plans — the main point of contention for Democrats.

Both parties still have not been able to make an agreement on extending the tax credits, and the loss of those is compounded by further cuts and changes to the Affordable Care Act from President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, also known as H.R. 1.

A total of 5,710 Clark County residents lost their federal tax credits in 2026, according to the new report from the exchange.

The state's mitigation efforts, including the Washington premium assistance program Cascade Care Savings, helped reduce the impact of federal changes, particularly for federally subsidized residents with incomes at 100 percent to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, Lee said.

Lauser, who also works with Clark County residents getting health insurance through the exchange, said the Cascade Care Savings program has been an immense help for residents trying to keep their health insurance costs down.

"Those tax credits are how it's affordable for most consumers in Clark County," Lauser said.

She also warns residents to be wary of insurance companies selling plans at extremely low prices, as they typically sell illegitimate or misleading policies.

In addition to supporting premium assistance programs such as Cascade Care Savings, Lauser advocates for greater price transparency among healthcare organizations.

For example, if hospitals provided clearer information about the prices of different services, consumers could more easily compare costs across providers and make informed choices about where to obtain care and spend their healthcare dollars.

"It would give us more control," Lauser said. "We could control our own cost of care. We can't right now, it's not, and it's not transparent."

This story was made possible by Community Funded Journalism, a project from The Columbian and the Local Media Foundation. Top donors include the Ed and Dollie Lynch Fund, Patricia, David and Jacob Nierenberg, Connie and Lee Kearney, Steve and Jan Oliva, The Cowlitz Tribal Foundation and the Mason E. Nolan Charitable Fund. The Columbian controls all content. For more information, visit columbian.com/cfj.

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