Photo: Governor Tom Wolf, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File photo of a health insurance exchange enrollment event, not a photo of the 2027 premium announcement.
Millions of Americans buying health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces will face another steep price increase next year, with average premiums set to rise 13 percent in 2027, according to a new analysis of federal pricing data released on Friday.
The analysis by KFF, a health research nonprofit, combined newly released federal insurance pricing for the 30 states using the federally run marketplace with data from state-run exchanges. It found the average monthly premium for a benchmark plan for a 40-year-old will be about $704 in 2027, up from $624 this year and around $497 in 2025.
People can start shopping for next year's ACA plans on November 1, when open enrollment begins — giving households days, not months, to absorb the new prices before choosing coverage.
A second straight double-digit jump
The 2027 increase is the second consecutive year of double-digit premium growth, and the second-biggest rise since 2018, according to KFF. It follows a steep increase this year: KFF put the average 2026 rise at 26 percent, while enrollees who lost pandemic-era enhanced subsidies saw far larger jumps in what they actually paid.
Premiums for employer-sponsored insurance, which covers about 150 million Americans, are also projected to rise by about 10 percent in 2027, underscoring that the pressure is not limited to the marketplaces.
Why premiums keep climbing
The main driver is the rising cost of care itself. Spending on hospital care and prescription drugs continues to grow, said Cynthia Cox, a senior vice president at KFF, and insurers also cite a sicker risk pool: as healthier people drop coverage, those who remain tend to need more care, pushing average costs higher.
Federal policy changes and the expiration of enhanced pandemic-era subsidies have added to the strain. Enrollment in ACA plans has already fallen to around 19.2 million as of February, down about 12 percent from a year earlier, and KFF's tally showed 31 state-level insurer departures against eight additions as of late October.
What it means days before the midterms
The timing puts health costs squarely in the final days of the midterm campaign. With voting on November 3, the premium increase gives voters a fresh, personal reminder of rising household costs — one of the issues both parties have been campaigning on — just as open enrollment opens.
Insurers had earlier proposed a median increase of 14 percent for 2027, according to KFF's review of filings, so the final 13 percent average is close to what companies had sought. Final rates can still vary widely by state, insurer and plan, and subsidies will blunt the blow for lower-income enrollees who qualify — but middle-income buyers who receive little or no financial help face the full increase.
What shoppers should do
Experts advise comparing plans rather than auto-renewing: premiums, deductibles and doctor networks can shift sharply from year to year, and a cheaper premium can mean higher out-of-pocket costs. Open enrollment for 2027 coverage starts November 1, and shoppers who want coverage from January 1 should enroll before the December deadline in most states.
Sources: The New York Times; The Wall Street Journal; KFF.