Insurers planning to increase ACA premiums in 2017

Citing financial losses under the ACA, many insurers around the country are requesting bigger premium increases for 2017 to account for lower-than-hoped enrollment, sicker-than-expected customers and problems with the government’s financial backstop for insurance markets (Source: “Increasing rates latest concern for health law,” Associated Press via Columbus Dispatch, June 2, 2016).

With data available for about half the states, premium increases appear to be sharper, but there are also significant differences between states and among insurers.

A recent analysis of nine states by the consulting firm Avalere Health found that average premium increases for the most popular kind of plan ranged from 5 percent in Washington state to 44 percent in Vermont.