Why Obamacare premiums are set for another double-digit jump

According to Axios, Obamacare premiums are headed for another steep climb. A new KFF analysis of preliminary rate filings finds the cost of coverage rising by a median of fourteen percent next year — the second straight year of double-digit increases in the individual market. Insurers point to two drivers: the underlying cost of medical care and prescription drugs, which is up ten percent for twenty twenty-seven, and the expiration of enhanced subsidies. People earning more than four hundred percent of the poverty level — about sixty-four thousand dollars for a single person — won't get help cushioning the blow. Axios notes the market is also shrinking, with enrollment down by roughly three million people to nineteen point two million. As healthier customers drop out over cost, the remaining pool grows sicker and more expensive, pushing premiums higher still. Democrats are blaming Republicans for the subsidy lapse, while the Trump administration attributes the enrollment drop to a crackdown on improper and fraudulent sign-ups.

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