Consumers who buy health insurance through the New York State-run Affordable Care Act marketplace could face double-digit percentage rate hikes next year.
That’s because health insurers in New York have requested an average rate hike of 13.5% for individuals in that Affordable Care Act, or ACA, marketplace and related programs. The proposed rate hike for small group plans was a striking 24%, state records show.
By contrast, insurers across the country plan a median ACA premium increase of 15% for 2026 plans, which would be the largest ACA insurance price hike since 2018, according to a Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker analysis published July 18.
Why are health insurance costs spiking in NY?
The proposed rate increases in New York would impact about 1 million New Yorkers who are enrolled in individual and small group plans directly through private insurers or through the state’s ACA health exchange, NY State of Health.
Health insurers asserted the reasons driving the need to increase rates included:
Still, the proposed rate hikes for next year have yet to be approved by the state Department of Financial Services, which has a history of reducing the rate increases sought by insurers. The final rates for next year will be approved in late August.
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As they stand, the propose rate increases for next year vary from a high of 66% through UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of New York to a low of nearly holding flat for Emblem.
Other factors driving up health insurance rates in New York and nationally included the expiration of tax credits instituted during former President Joe Biden’s administration that made plans cheaper, and tariffs on prescription drugs and medical device imports, USA TODAY reported.
How much have NY health insurance rates increased in the past?
From 2019 to 2023, average rates for individual plans increased by a total of 31.4%, with an average yearly rise of about 6%. Small-group plans saw a total increase of 30.6% during the same period, an industry study reported.
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The rates for individual plans in 2025 increased by an average of 12.7%, while small-group plan rates increased by 8.4%. Those rate increase percentages were about the same as the rate hikes in 2024.
For further details about specific health insurers’ proposed rate increases for 2026, visit the state regulatory agency’s website, at dfs.ny.gov. You can also submit a comment about the requested increases through the agency’s online portal.
The agency also has a consumer hotline that is staffed Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at (800) 342-3736.
What about employer-provided health insurance costs?
At the same time, many working-age consumers in New York who get their health insurance through the workplace won’t be spared from cost hikes next year, either. Benefits consultant Mercer said more than half of big employers nationally expect to shift a larger share of insurance costs to employees and their families next year by raising deductibles, copays or out-of-pocket requirements.
Includes reporting by Ken Alltucker of USA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Health insurance costs to spike again in NY. What to expect in 2026
Reporting by David Robinson, New York State Team / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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