Health insurance premiums will jump 22% for about 250,000 Washingtonians who buy coverage on the state's ACA exchange. That includes self-employed workers and small-business owners in Olympia and Tumwater.
Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer approved an average 22.2% rate increase for 2027 exchange plans on Wednesday, Sept. 9, according to the Washington State Standard.
The new rates take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
It is the second straight year of 20%-plus premium hikes. Exchange premiums rose 21% in 2026.
Who gets hit
The exchange serves people who do not get insurance through an employer or a government program like Medicaid or Medicare. That includes the self-employed, early retirees and small businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
Jim Freeburg, executive director of the Patient Coalition of Washington, told the Washington State Standard the new rates will strain families.
"It's going to cost my wife and I over $36,000 to cover ourselves and our two girls and that's simply unfair for the coverage we'd get," Freeburg said.
Why rates keep climbing
Thirteen insurers requested an average 22.4% increase. Kuderer is legally required to approve rate hikes that are actuarially justified.
Aaron VanTuyl, spokesman for the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, told the Spokesman-Review that the office cannot reject increases when insurers document their costs.
The drivers: rising hospital charges, prescription drug prices and heavier use of services by the people still enrolled. At a Friday, Sept. 4 press conference in Seattle, Kuderer also pointed to mergers, acquisitions and "the uncertainty coming out of the other Washington," according to the NW Asian Weekly.
The expiration of federal enhanced premium tax credits, which had saved enrollees about $1,330 a year, pushed healthier and younger people off the exchange. That left a sicker, costlier pool of enrollees behind.
Enrollment plunges
Exchange enrollment dropped roughly 36,500 people from 2025 to 2026, a nearly 13% decline. The Washington State Standard reported it is the steepest falloff since the marketplace launched in 2013.
Rural counties saw some of the sharpest drops. The state's own Cascade Care Savings program helped prevent even steeper losses, according to Kuderer's office.
Rates by insurer
Not every plan rises equally. Among the largest carriers on the exchange:
- Regence BlueShield (16,000 members): 6.7%
- Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington (more than 40,000 members): approximately 14.1%
- Coordinated Care Corporation (98,000 members): more than 25%
- Community Health Plan of Washington (nearly 37,000 enrollees): 30.5%
Political fallout
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said a family of four earning $130,000 saw average annual premiums climb $12,392 in 2026, bringing their total to $23,442 a year. Murray's office also noted that 37 Washington hospitals, clinics and nursing homes have announced service cuts or closures, and that the state's health care providers face $160 million less in federal funding.
What's next
The Washington Health Benefit Exchange Board was scheduled to certify the 2027 rates at its Thursday, Sept. 10 meeting. Open enrollment begins Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 15, 2027. Residents can compare plans and check eligibility for state premium assistance at wahealthplanfinder.org.
