Health insurers across the United States are requesting premium increases of up to 30% for 2027, marking another year of steep rate hikes that threaten to price millions of consumers out of coverage. The requests, filed with state insurance regulators in recent weeks, reflect soaring medical service costs and the expiration of pandemic-era federal subsidies that have kept premiums artificially low since 2021.
In Connecticut, ConnectiCare Benefits filed for an average 22.7% increase on individual plans, while Anthem requested a 17.4% jump for small group employers. In Washington state, thirteen health insurers requested an average rate change of 22.4% for the 2027 individual health insurance market. Maine filings reveal proposed individual plan rate spikes reaching as high as 32%, according to the state Bureau of Insurance.
Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Josh Hershman said the cost drivers require cooperation from across the healthcare system. “Providers, hospital networks, pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmacy benefit managers, insurers, and policymakers all have a responsibility to help address the factors driving costs,” he said in a statement. State officials are pushing back against the rate hike proposals, with Connecticut Attorney General William Tong vowing scrutiny. “These double-digit demands are unaffordable, excessive, and unacceptable, and we’re going to scrutinize every page of these applications,” Tong said.
What’s Driving the Surge
Two major forces are behind the 2027 requests. First, the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits that expanded marketplace affordability from 2021 to 2025 are set to expire at the end of this year. Those credits, which capped enrollee premiums at a percentage of household income, drove enrollment to record highs. Their expiration will cause premium payments to surge, particularly for enrollees earning above 400% of the federal poverty level, who will lose subsidy eligibility entirely.
Second, medical service costs have climbed sharply. During recent first-quarter earnings calls, health insurance CEOs stated that medical cost trends remain highly elevated, prompting companies to prioritize profit margin recovery and aggressive claims reduction strategies. Humana CEO Jim Rechtin explained the calculation: “You still have to come back and say, ‘OK, but what are the changes that you have to make to benefits in order to get to your target margin, so in order to get to a sustainable, durable, attractive long-term margin that gives us an appropriate return on capital?'”
The 2027 requests follow a precedent of sharp increases in 2026. The Commonwealth Fund reported that the median proposed premium increase for 2026 was 18 percent nationally, more than twice the increase insurers proposed for 2025. ACA Marketplace premiums rose 20% from 2025 to 2026, according to population-weighted analysis, with eleven states seeing increases exceeding 30%.
The Commonwealth Fund analyzed the impact of subsidy cuts in a blog post and reported a “bleak” picture for 2026. Sign-ups during open enrollment fell by 1.2 million, a 5% drop from the prior year—the largest decline in any year since the marketplaces opened in 2014. Several state-based marketplaces reported that plan cancellations rose sharply between January and March 2026, up 24% over the prior year. Many Americans dropped down a coverage tier, resulting in fewer benefits and causing the average marketplace annual deductible to increase by $1,000 in 2026, to nearly $3,800.
Analysts expect 2027 marketplace enrollment to decline 17 to 26 percent from 2026, dropping by around 5 million people, as further federal cuts to subsidies and new enrollment barriers take effect. The District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking received 181 proposed health insurance plan rates for annual review and promised a “rigorous, data-driven review” to ensure that premiums are justified.
Sources
- InsuranceNewsNet — reported health insurers requesting hikes up to 30% for 2027, with details on Connecticut, Maine, Washington, and D.C. filings; quoted state officials and insurance CEOs
- Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner — confirmed thirteen health insurers requested an average 22.4% rate change for 2027 individual market
- Commonwealth Fund — analyzed subsidy expiration impact, 2026 enrollment declines, and deductible increases
- KFF/Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker — documented ACA Marketplace premium increases of 20% from 2025 to 2026
