Overview

• Insurers nationwide requested a median 15% increase for 2026 ACA marketplace plans, marking the largest average hike since 2018.
• Colorado insurers asked for an average 28.4% premium rise, with peaks above 38% in areas like the Western Slope and Grand Junction.
• On July 17 and 18, a coalition of 21 Democratic-led states filed suit against the Trump administration’s ACA Integrity Rule, arguing it will curtail enrollment windows, impose stricter eligibility checks and ban gender-affirming care coverage.
• Insurers cited the impending end of pandemic-era enhanced premium tax credits, tariffs on imported drugs and equipment, medical service inflation and costly GLP-1 treatments as key factors in their rate proposals.
• Regulators will hold public hearings on rate requests in August as lawmakers face mounting pressure to extend subsidies before they expire at year’s end.