Michigan health premiums jump 14.2%

Four hundred thousand Michigan residents will pay an average of 14.2% more for their individual health insurance plans starting in 2027. State regulators approved the rate increases on Wednesday, just as open enrollment began. Another 400,000 people enrolled in small group plans will see their premiums rise by an average of 9.6%.

The price hikes coincide with a sharp drop in coverage. Individual market enrollment in the state fell by more than 130,000 people over the past year. Michigan’s 27% decline in federal marketplace enrollment is more than double the national average of 12%. Neighboring states saw similar losses, with Ohio down 32% and Indiana down 28%.

University of Michigan’s Center for Health and Research Transformation, or CHRT, attributes the trend to the expiration of enhanced premium subsidies and new federal rules. The center noted that recent policy changes narrow eligibility, shorten enrollment windows, and add paperwork requirements for tax credits.

“Taken together, they move in the same direction: narrowing who is eligible, shortening the enrollment window, adding new paperwork requirements to claim a tax credit, and raising costs for enrollees who remain,” the center said in a policy brief published this month.

Employer-sponsored costs are also climbing. The average worker contributed $7,471 toward family coverage this year, a 9% increase from 2025. Consulting firm Marsh forecasts that costs will rise between 8% and 11% next year. Bret Jackson, president and CEO of the Economic Alliance of Michigan, described the situation as a real affordability crisis that is accelerating quickly.

Plan availability has also shifted. Seven insurers will offer ACA coverage in Michigan next year, the same number as this year but down from 15 in 2016. Meridian Health Plan of Michigan exited the Metro Detroit market, dropping from 156,012 individual market enrollees in 2026 to 18,938 in 2027. Its marketplace option, Ambetter from Meridian, will return to Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and Monroe counties in 2027 and add Bay County.

Public comments to the state insurance department showed universal opposition to the hikes. One resident reported spending $2,500 a month on family coverage and said the increases would force them to drop coverage completely. Another said they would work less to qualify for Medicaid. The state currently has a 5.5% uninsured rate, below the national 8.4% average, but levels are returning to pre-pandemic figures.