2026 Rate Changes

Overall preliminary rate changes via SERFF database, state insurance dept. website and/or the federal Rate Review database.

Hawaii Medical Service Association:

Our requested rates include only the amounts needed to cover the expected health care benefits of our members, the cost of administering their benefits, expected Affordable Care Act (ACA) fees, and a small charge to help manage the risk of offering benefits to this population.

We based our rate increase request on a review of past costs of benefits and other expenses. These historical costs are adjusted for trend, to account for expected changes in use of medical services, cost inflation, and other factors that affect the cost of care. We also adjusted costs for benefit changes, which were largely made to comply with government mandated plan designs. Administrative expenses have been relatively flat over the past couple of years.

Originally posted 7/18/25; see important updates below.

via the Indiana Dept. of Insurance:

Rate Watch is a convenient way for Hoosiers to access key data on Accident and Health rate filings submitted to the IDOI on or after May 1, 2010. Use it to determine which companies have requested rate changes, their originally requested overall % rate change, and the overall final % rate change approved. These are overall rate changes and are not individually specific. The table below is searchable and sortable. You can also download your filtered results by pressing the Save Excel File button at the bottom of the table. If you need the full data set, including a few additional columns, you can download the CSV file.

...INDIANA 2026 ACA FILINGS

Originally posted 8/8/25

Overall preliminary rate changes via the SERFF database, Alabama Insurance Dept. and/or the federal Rate Review database.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of AL

The average rate increase included in this filing is 19.3%, affecting over 210,000 members.

The main factors driving the need for this increase are:

  • Alabama market membership loss and remaining members projected to be less healthy following expiration of enhanced premium subsidies in place since 2021
  • Projected claim cost trends are higher for 2025 than anticipated in the 2025 filing and are projected to continue into 2026
  • Administrative costs increased in 2025 and are expected to rise further in 2026 due to new eligibility and billing rules, along with a higher Exchange User Fee

...Expiring Enhanced Advance Premium Tax Credits

Originally posted 6/06/25

Tennessee ACA exchange carriers were instructed to provide two sets of rate filings for 2026: One which assumes CSR reimbursement payments won't be reinstated, one which assumes they are reinstated. In addition, both sets of filings assume that IRA subsidies won't be extended; all but one carrier clarified how much extending the IRA subsidies would impact 2026 premium changes.

Alliant Health Plans: Alliant is requesting a nominal 0.3% increase next year if CSR payments aren't reinstated and a 1.0% drop if they are. In both cases, premiums would be 2.8% lower if IRA subsidies were to be extended by Congress:

Originally posted 7/21/25; See important updates below.

It's a little awkward to try & pull quotes from Georgia's actuarial memos because they're heavily redacted (see attachments below), but fortunately I also have access to other "just the facts" filing documents which include the hard data I need to compile my weighted averages. These forms--officially called "Rate Filing Transmittal Form LH-T1" and "Unified Rate Review" forms--include, among lots of other numbers, the preliminary avg. rate change being requested for the carrier's individual (or small group) market plans, as well as the number of current effectuated enrollees they have.

In addition, I have alternate rate filings for Georgia individual market carriers which specifically state what their requested rate changes would be if the enhanced premium tax credit subsidies provided by the American Rescue Plan Act & Inflation Reduction Act were to be extended for at least one more year, providing a clear apples to apples comparison.

originally posted 7/17/25

via the Iowa Insurance Division:

Iowa Code §505.19 requires the Commissioner to hold a public hearing on a proposed individual health insurance rate increase which exceeds the average annual health spending growth rate as published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the United State Department of Health and Human Services.  For 2026 the growth rate is 5.6%.

The Iowa Insurance Commissioner will hold a public hearing regarding the relevant rate increases on August 19, 2025.

The purpose will be to hear public comments on the proposed increase in the base premium rate. Consumers wishing to make a public comment at the hearing are encouraged to attend the hearing via the live webcast. 

All comments received will be considered public records and will be posted here. The Consumer Advocate will present the public comments received at the hearing.

Originally posted 8/04/25

via the Pennsylvania Insurance Dept:

Pennsylvanians can submit comments on rate requests and filings through September 2

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Insurance Department (PID) today announced that the 2026 rate changes requested by insurance companies currently operating in Pennsylvania’s individual and small group markets are now available. On average, all Pennsylvania health insurers are requesting premium increases in plan year 2026: 19% increase to premiums in the individual market (for people who buy their own insurance), and a 13% increase to premiums in the small group market (for small businesses). 

Originally posted 8/7/25

Overall preliminary rate changes via federal Rate Review database.

Antidote Health Plan of AZ:

(Unfortunately, no rate justification summary is available, and the full actuarial memo is heavily redacted. Policy enrollees are estimated based on marketwide estimated enrollment; see below.)

Banner/Aetna CVS:

(Dropping out of the individual market for 2026.)

I am writing to notify the Department that Banner Health and Aetna Health Plan Inc. (“Banner | Aetna”) will exit the individual health insurance market effective December 31, 2025. This notification is sent pursuant to Department guidance and Arizona statute 20-1380(D)(1). We made this decision after careful consideration and after evaluating the evolution of business at Banner | Aetna. The details of our individual market exit include the following:

Originally posted 8/08/25

Overall preliminary rate changes via the SERFF database, New Hampshire Insurance Dept. and/or the federal Rate Review database.

Anthem Health Plans of NH (BCBS)

(Unfortunately, Anthem has redacted their current enrollment total; see below)

This is a rate filing for the Individual market ACA-compliant plans offered by Anthem Health Plans of New Hampshire, Inc., also referred to as Anthem. The policy forms associated with these plans are listed below. The proposed rates in this filing are for a new HMO product that will be effective for the 2026 plan year beginning January 1, 2026, and apply exclusively to off-exchange plans.

It was just a couple of weeks ago that the official (if preliminary) 2026 ACA individual market rate filings for Wyoming insurance carriers went live on the federal rate review website.

I published a writeup about these just 3 days ago; unlike some states, Wyoming was pretty easy to break out as they only have three carriers on the indy market, all of which also made their current enrollment data easy to find.

The landscape isn't pretty: BCBS is seeking average rate increases of 20.7%; UHC wants 29.1%, and Mountain Health Co-Op, which has around 9,600 enrollees, was asking for a whopping 32% average premium hike.

Keep in mind that Wyoming already has among the most expensive individual market policies in the country, with premiums averaging over $1,000/month.

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