Obamacare health premiums to rise in 2026; Missouri among hardest hit

By Suzanne King

Kansas City Beacon

If you are one of the 617,000 people in Missouri or Kansas buying Obamacare insurance on healthcare.gov, expect sticker shock when next year’s premiums are announced.

With few exceptions, insurance companies selling health coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace plan to increase rates in 2026. In the Kansas City area, all but one carrier have asked Kansas and Missouri regulators for the right to bump up premiums — in one case by 40%.

The story is similar across the country.

A survey of proposed rates by KFF and the Peterson Center on Healthcare found a median planned increase of 18% among the 312 insurers participating in ACA marketplaces nationwide. That is 11 percen

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