Wary of inflation, Americans have been watching the prices of everyday items such as eggs and gasoline. A less-noticed expense should cause greater alarm: rising premiums for health insurance. They have been for years and are now rising faster than ever.
Consider that, from 2000 to 2020, fluctuated between just under $1 and about $3 a dozen; they reached $6.23 in March but then fell to $3.78 in June. Average , after seesawing between $2 and $4 a gallon for more than a decade starting in 2005, peaked at $4.93 in 2022 and recently fell back to just over $3.
Meanwhile, since 1999, health insurance premiums for people with employer-provided coverage have . From 2023 to 2024 alone, they rose more than 6% for both individuals and family coverage 鈥� and overall inflation.
For many people who have the kind of insurance plans created by the Affordable Care Act (because they work for small companies or insure themselves), rates have probably risen even more drastically. In this market, insurers鈥� proposed rate increases, but only if they exceed 15%.
And the situation is about to get worse: For 2026, ACA marketplace insurers have proposed : In New York, UnitedHealthcare has proposed a 66.4% rise. HMO Colorado has asked for an average increase of in that state. In Washington, the across all insurers is 21.2%, and in Rhode Island it鈥檚 23.7%.
According to Business Group on Health, a consortium of major employers, 鈥渁ctual health care costs have since 2017.鈥� In a published in 2021, 87% of companies said that in the next five to 10 years, the cost of providing health insurance for their workers would become 鈥渦nsustainable.鈥�
And insurers in the ACA marketplace are increasing premiums by an average of 20% for next year, according to a . Imagine if tens of millions of Americans鈥� rent or mortgage payments were to suddenly increase by that amount.
Insurance regulators theoretically that these proposed rates be lowered 鈥� and this often happens. But some states are more active than others in this regard. And all are wary that too much regulatory interference could drive insurers from their markets.
Insurers offer many explanations for their calculations, some of which are tied to recent actions by Congress and President Donald Trump. New tariffs on America鈥檚 trading partners, for example, are expected to push up the cost of drugs and medical supplies.
Meanwhile, included in the GOP budget bill, along with the expiration of some Biden-era premium subsidies at the end of this year, will cause many people to lose their health insurance. About are expected to become uninsured by 2034, in many cases because keeping insurance will become unaffordable.
Because most of these people are likely to be young and/or healthy, the 鈥渞isk pool鈥� of those remaining insured will become older and sicker 鈥� and therefore .
鈥淯ltimately, we believe the ACA market will likely be smaller and higher acuity-driven next year,鈥� Janey Kiryluik, vice president of corporate communications for Elevance Health (formerly known as Anthem), wrote in an email. She added: 鈥淥ur position reflects early disciplined action.鈥�
Remember, most insurers in the United States are public, for-profit companies; as such, they tend to act in the interests of their shareholders, not the patients whose health care they cover.
Large employers that manage their own health care plans might be able to negotiate better deals for their workers. But smaller companies, for the most part, will need to accept what鈥檚 on offer.
Premiums are not the only part of health insurance that鈥檚 getting more expensive. Deductibles 鈥� the money that beneficiaries must spend out-of-pocket before insurance kicks in 鈥� are also rising. The average deductible for a standard ACA silver plan in 2025 , about double what it was in 2014. (For those with employer-based insurance, the average number is .)
A few states are trying to stem the tide by offering a state-run 鈥減ublic option,鈥� a basic affordable insurance plan that patients can choose. But they because a lower payment rate for workers generally means fewer participating providers and reduced access to care.
If voters paid as much attention to the price of health insurance as they do to the cost of gas and eggs, maybe elected officials would respond with more action.