ACA Insurers Seek Median 14% Premium Increase for 2027 Coverage

Insurers offering coverage through Affordable Care Act marketplaces are seeking another round of steep price increases for the 2027 plan year. In preliminary filings with state regulators across 16 states and the District of Columbia, carriers requested a median rate increase of 14%, according to analysis from the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker. If approved as filed, that would represent the second-largest increase since 2018. Analysts at KFF described the situation as a compounding burden for consumers, who already absorbed higher premiums in 2026 and lost the more generous enhanced premium tax credits that expired at the end of 2025. Insurers attribute the proposed rises to several factors: rising hospital and prescription drug prices, provider consolidation, federal regulatory changes including the Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters and the Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Rule, and continued uncertainty over who will remain in the individual market. Carriers estimate that a deteriorating risk pool, as healthier enrollees drop coverage, added roughly four percentage points to 2026 premiums and expect a similar effect in 2027. State regulators are expected to finalise rates in August, ahead of open enrollment beginning 1 November.