Obamacare Insurers Seek Double-Digit Premium Hikes Next Year
Some enrollees could be hit with increases of more than 20% because of federal changes and higher health expenses
By Anna Wilde Mathews
Updated July 18, 2025 10:28 am ET
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Insurers are seeking hefty 2026 rate increases for Affordable Care Act marketplace plans, the coverage known as Obamacare. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois wants a 27% hike, while its sister Blue Cross plan in Texas is asking for 21%. The largest ACA plans in Washington state, Georgia and Rhode Island are all looking for premiums to surge more than 20%.
............ About 24 million people have ACA plans.
At the request of The Wall Street Journal, the health-research nonprofit KFF analyzed the rate requests for the largest ACA plans by enrollment in 17 states where the insurers’ filings have already become public, as well as the District of Columbia. They showed that some of the biggest national ACA players, including Centene and Elevance Health, are seeking double-digit increases in several states. The Blue Cross & Blue Shield plans of Texas and Illinois are both owned by Health Care Service, a giant nonprofit.
Higher ACA premiums would hit consumers including Clare Forry, a 40-year-old resident of Arlington Heights, Ill., who has a Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois plan that currently costs about $590 a month. If her monthly payment rose above $700 next year, the cost would be “pretty hard to grasp,” said Forry, a retail-industry manager. “That’s some people’s mortgage payments.”
Most Obamacare enrollees’ monthly insurance bills will go up substantially next year because of reductions in federal subsidies that help pay for their coverage..............
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