Obamacare insurers ask for second-highest premiums increase in nearly a decade

NEW YORK - Companies offering Obamacare health insurance plans next year are requesting payment rates representing a 14% median increase to premiums over 2026 rates, according to data from health policy research group KFF.

The proposed rate for 2027 represents the second-highest increase since 2018, KFF said. Insurers must submit proposals to regulators by July 15, detailing expected costs and planned price changes ahead of the new year.

When insurance companies asked for a median rate hike of 18% last year, they pointed to an expected greater number of higher-risk, or sicker, patients enrolled in the plans that would not be offset by less costly, healthier enrollees.

A spokesperson for UnitedHealth, which operates insurer UnitedHealthcare, said the company prices its premiums based on projected costs.

"This year's requested rate increases are driven by higher hospital prices, increased utilization and rising specialty drug costs," the spokesperson said.

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.

Without the subsidies, premiums rose 58% in 2026 and deductibles increased about $1,000 more per person, according to KFF data.

To compile the data to project 2027 rate increases, KFF analyzed filings by 77 insurers in 16 states and Washington, D.C.

Between 2025 and 2027, premiums are on track to increase by more than 33%, based on the latest proposed rate.

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. CVS Health announced last year that its Aetna insurance unit would not offer Obamacare plans in 2026 due to increased costs anticipated in that business.