Open enrollment for Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage is underway, and shoppers are facing another year of sharply higher premiums, with benchmark plan prices set to rise an average of 13 percent in 2027.
A new analysis from KFF, the health policy research organization, found that finalized benchmark silver premiums — for mid-tier health coverage — will rise by an average of 13 percent next year, marking the second year in a row of double-digit percentage increases after a 26 percent jump in 2026. Benchmark premiums have risen by an average of 42 percent between 2025 and 2027, KFF said.
For a 40-year-old buying the benchmark plan, the average monthly premium has climbed from $452 in 2021 to $703 in 2027, an increase of 56 percent, according to KFF. A 60-year-old buying the benchmark plan without financial help paid $15,914 a year in 2026, about $1,326 a month.
The increases follow the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits at the end of 2025. The credits, created in 2021 and extended through 2025, lowered what most enrollees paid each month. The House passed a three-year extension in January 2026, but the credits had not been restored as of October, and the average monthly premium payment after credits rose 58 percent in 2026, from $113 to $178. Average deductibles jumped to a record $3,786.
Most enrollees still receive a subsidy to help cover premiums, but people earning more than 400 percent of the federal poverty level — about $63,840 for one person or $132,000 for a family of four — no longer qualify for federal premium tax credits and pay the full price. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that about 1 million more people will be uninsured by 2035 because of the credit expiration.
Enrollment has already fallen. Data from the Department of Health and Human Services showed 19.2 million people were enrolled under the ACA in the first two months of 2026, down by about 3 million compared with the same time last year, and KFF noted that several insurers expect further declines in coverage in 2027.
Open enrollment typically runs from November 1, 2026, through January 15, 2027, on HealthCare.gov. People who enroll by December 15 will have coverage starting January 1. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said more than 75 percent of HealthCare.gov consumers will have access to plans with monthly premiums of $50 or less in 2027.
