Families who buy health coverage through Obamacare are about to take another hit. Premiums for mid-tier “benchmark” plans on the Affordable Care Act exchanges are set to climb 13% on average in 2027, according to a KFF analysis of Trump administration price data released Friday, the Washington Times reports.
That makes two years in a row of double-digit increases for the law Democrats pushed through under President Barack Obama in 2010. And it comes on top of even bigger hikes that hit enrollees going into 2026.
Insurers gave two main reasons in their filings: the rising cost of care itself, and the end of the enhanced subsidies that changed who signs up.
“In their rate filings, insurers point to a higher-than-usual increase in the underlying cost of care, which is not unique to the ACA Marketplaces; some employer plans have also seen steep cost increases,” KFF said. “ACA Marketplace insurers also cite the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits and the resulting changes in the risk pool as factors contributing to higher premiums.”
Enrollment had swelled to more than 24 million people during the Biden years. It fell to around 19 million this year after President Trump and Republicans ended the supersized Biden-era subsidies.
KFF warned the slide may not be over. “Sharp premium increases in 2027 follow even steeper increases going into 2026,” the group said. “These higher costs may lead additional healthier enrollees to drop coverage, further worsening the risk pool and putting additional upward pressure on premiums.”
Households with incomes at 400% or more of the poverty line get no subsidy at all and will feel the full brunt of the increase. Since its launch in late 2013, the program has been prone to these premium shocks whenever the pool of enrollees shifts.
The administration is pointing to cheaper options. According to CMS, roughly three in four HealthCare.gov shoppers will have access to a plan priced at $50 or less in 2027.
Trump has long opposed the law. He sought to repeal it in 2017 and settled for eliminating the “individual mandate” penalty for going without insurance. Even so, his administration is charged with running it.
The president is touting his own health care record, including Medicaid drug-price cuts through his Most Favored Nation approach and TrumpRx, which lets customers buy discounted medicines with cash. He also recently sent $500 rebates to unsubsidized Obamacare customers to help with costs.
The new rates were announced days before Tuesday’s midterm elections. Democrats generally poll better on health care, and many of their candidates want to restore the larger Obamacare subsidies that Republicans canceled in the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” After two straight rounds of double-digit hikes, voters will have to judge whether more taxpayer money can fix a law whose costs keep climbing.
