ACA Health Insurance Premiums Skyrocket: Largest Increase in 7 Years Hits Consumers

Brace for impact—your healthcare costs are about to take a brutal leap.

The sticker shock is real

ACA premiums are set for their steepest climb since 2018, leaving wallets gasping. No fancy actuarial tables needed—just prepare for the financial gut-punch.

Why your budget just got sick

Insurers blame 'market adjustments' (translation: profit protection). Meanwhile, consumers get to play everyone's favorite game: 'Deductible or Dinner?'

Silver lining? More like tin foil

At least crypto volatility makes these hikes look predictable—your portfolio might crash, but at least it won't send a 12-page EOB statement afterward.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Premiums for Affordable Care Act-regulated health plans are expected to jump about 18% next year, the highest increase in ACA plan rates since 2018.
• A primary reason health insurers requested to raise premiums is the expiration of an enhanced tax credit, which made the plans cheaper for many ACA enrollees and boosted participation.
• Another factor is the ongoing increase in drug prices and other healthcare costs, and the potential for tariffs to raise prices even higher.

Increased health care costs and the expiration of subsidies for federal government-managed health plans will likely lead to the highest ACA premium increase in seven years.

Health insurers asked state regulatorsto increase premiums for Affordable Care Act-regulated health plans by a median of 18% in 2026, 11 percentage points higher than what they requested last year. It's the largest requested rate change for ACA plans since 2018, researchers from the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker reported on Wednesday.

These rates may change when states review the rate requests, and will be finalized in late summer.

One of the primary drivers of the requested premium hikes is the expiration of enhanced tax credits at the end of this year, which lowered premiums for many ACA enrollees. While the majority of the 24 million Americans on an ACA health plan will still receive a subsidy, the expired tax credit means enrollees will have to pay 75% more for out-of-pocket premiums.

Because of the drop in subsidies, some healthier enrollees are expected to drop their ACA coverage. This will leave health insurers with a smaller enrollee base, one that is less healthy and more expensive on average. To compensate, higher requested premium rates for all enrollees were requested.

Another factor is increasing costs and the use of high-priced prescriptions, like GLP-1 drugs for the treatment of diabetes and obesity, which can cost about $1,000 per month. General healthcare costs are also climbing due to growing labor costs and inflation, forcing ACA and non-ACA employer health plans to shift more of the costs onto the enrollees.

It's not clear how tariffs will impact health care costs, but some insurers have cited them as a motive to raise premiums. According to Peterson-KFF, the insurers who said tariffs factored into their request increased premiums by an additional three percentage points than they WOULD without tariffs.