Obamacare costs keep climbing. Insurers are proposing a median 14% premium increase for 2027 ACA marketplace plans — the second-highest request since 2018. The hikes are driven by the expiration of enhanced subsidies, rising drug and hospital costs, and a sicker enrollee pool left behind as healthier members dropped coverage.
Obamacare costs keep climbing — again. A new analysis from KFF and the Peterson Center on Healthcare finds that insurers are proposing a median 14% premium increase for 2027 ACA marketplace plans, based on preliminary rate filings from 77 insurers across 16 states and Washington, D.C. Most payers are seeking hikes between 10% and 20%, with 20 insurers requesting increases above 20%. Not a single insurer proposed lowering premiums.
If these rates hold, typical ACA premiums would rise by more than one-third between 2025 and 2027 — a steep two-year run-up. Insurers point to several culprits: the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits at the end of 2025 drove healthier enrollees off the exchanges, leaving a sicker, costlier pool behind. Rising hospital, physician, and prescription drug costs — including pricey GLP-1 weight-loss medications — are also pushing spending higher.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: Millions of Americans rely on ACA marketplaces for coverage, and back-to-back double-digit premium hikes could push more enrollees — especially younger, healthier ones — to drop insurance altogether, further destabilizing the risk pool and accelerating costs.
