Health insurers selling individual coverage under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, are proposing another year of double-digit percentage premium increases for 2027, a new KFF analysis shows.
A snapshot of rate filings with regulators in 16 states and Washington, D.C. shows health insurers submitting a “median premium increase of 14% for 2027,” KFF said. The submissions come from 77 insurers in the states that have submitted rate filings so far, KFF said one week before the July 15 deadline for health insurance companies to submit their proposed premiums for next year.
“If these early indications of median premium, increases for 2027 hold, typical premiums for insurers participating in the ACA marketplaces will have jumped by more than one-third over a two-year period,” the analysis, available on The Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, said. “These preliminary filings provide insight into the factors insurers expect to drive health costs for the coming year. Among the key drivers, insurers cite the rising cost of health services, the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits, and some federal regulatory changes.”
To be sure, enhanced premium tax credits expired at the end of 2025 after the Republican-led Congress and the Donald Trump White House refused to extend them. And that has led to a “58% average increase in out-of-pocket premiums in 2026 and deductibles of about $1,000 more per person.”
Meanwhile, the end of the enhanced premium tax credits has led to more than 2 million Americans dropping coverage this year and created turbulence in the health insurance market. Already, several health insurers have decided to stop selling Obamacare.
In April, The Cigna Group disclosed plans to exit the Obamacare market, leaving about 369,00 health plan members in 11 states looking for new coverage in 2027. Meanwhile, Centene earlier that month said its Obamacare , enrollment tumbled by 2 million enrollees to 3.58 million at the end of the first quarter compared to 5.54 million at the end of last year and 5.62 million in the first quarter of last year.
UnitedHealth Group’s UnitedHealthcare said its Obamacare enrollment was down as well, falling to 1.4 million from 1.7 million last year. And a year ago, CVS Health announced plans to exit the individual health insurance business, leaving about 1 million Aetna members in 17 states looking for new coverage for this year.
The smaller pool of Americans buying Obamacare also contributes to higher premiums.
“Insurers are now building 2027 rates on top of that adjusted, less-healthy risk pool – compounding the effect into next year’s premiums as well,” the KFF analysis said.
