2027 Rate Changes - Washington

Indiana lost two carriers for 2027. Oregon lost two. Washington lost none, and its prices went up the most.

I pulled Washington's individual medical rate filings out of the public SERFF health plan binders, the same way I did for Minnesota, Indiana, and Oregon. Every on-exchange plan, both years, all nine rating areas, all twelve carriers. Nobody is leaving the Washington exchange. And the median on-exchange plan that survives into 2027 still costs about 22 percent more at age 21, the steepest increase of any state I have tracked.

That combination is the whole point of this post. If you want to know whether these increases are really about insurers fleeing a broken market, Washington is the control group. The market did not break, and the prices went up anyway.

Source: SERFF health plan binders (plan year 2026 and 2027 individual medical); WA OIC rate filings

A note on the number I am comparing

Every premium here is for a 21-year-old, non-tobacco. Age 21 is the anchor of the federal default age curve, where the age factor is exactly 1.000, so an age-21 comparison isolates the price change from any change in age. Multiply by your own age factor to get your number. Washington permits a tobacco surcharge, so these are the non-tobacco base rates.

Twelve carriers, and King County has eight of them

Washington's individual market is the most competitive I have mapped. Counting by parent company, King County, greater Seattle, has eight separate insurers competing for enrollment: Premera, which also owns LifeWise, plus Kaiser, Cambia's Regence and BridgeSpan, Centene's Ambetter, UnitedHealthcare, Molina, Wellpoint, and Community Health Plan of Washington. Every one of the nine rating areas holds at least four.

None of them left. The only 2027 departure in the state is Providence Health Plan, which is shutting down its insurance division and dropping out of Oregon too. But in Washington, Providence only ever sold off-exchange, so its exit does not touch a single on-exchange plan here. The exchange itself is exactly as full in 2027 as it was in 2026.

The most competitive market I have mapped still raised prices 22 percent

Here is what each Washington carrier filed as its average increase, next to the median change on the plans it kept.

Median change on plans they kept Average rate change they filed

0%10%20%30%

Ambetter +29.2% → +27.8% −1.4 pts

UnitedHealthcare +27.8% → +26.4% −1.4 pts

Molina +24.7% → +25.8% +1.1 pts

CHPW +24.7% → +24.5% −0.2 pts

Premera +24.2% → +24.0% −0.2 pts

LifeWise +22.0% → +21.2% −0.8 pts

Regence (Clark) +17.2% → +17.4% +0.2 pts

Kaiser WA +10.7% → +14.0% +3.3 pts

Wellpoint +14.4% → +13.7% −0.7 pts

BridgeSpan +12.3% → +12.7% +0.3 pts

Kaiser NW +9.8% → +9.5% −0.3 pts

Regence +8.4% → +8.6% +0.2 pts

Table view

Issuer	Median, kept plans	Filed average	Gap	Plans kept	Plans dropped
Ambetter	+29.2%	+27.8%	-1.4 pts	68	13
UnitedHealthcare	+27.8%	+26.4%	-1.4 pts	42	14
Molina	+24.7%	+25.8%	1.1 pts	28	0
CHPW	+24.7%	+24.5%	-0.2 pts	32	0
Premera	+24.2%	+24.0%	-0.2 pts	30	10
LifeWise	+22.0%	+21.2%	-0.8 pts	70	14
Regence (Clark)	+17.2%	+17.4%	0.2 pts	9	1
Kaiser WA	+10.7%	+14.0%	3.3 pts	49	21
Wellpoint	+14.4%	+13.7%	-0.7 pts	6	0
BridgeSpan	+12.3%	+12.7%	0.3 pts	32	0
Kaiser NW	+9.8%	+9.5%	-0.3 pts	16	2
Regence	+8.4%	+8.6%	0.2 pts	35	7

Same pattern as Indiana and Oregon: filed and actual agree, carrier by carrier. Premera filed 24.0 percent and its surviving plans moved 24.2. Ambetter filed 27.8 and moved 29.2. Kaiser filed 9.5 and moved 9.8. No hidden crosswalk gap anywhere.

But look at the level. Eight carriers competing in King County did not hold anyone's increase down to single digits except Kaiser. Ambetter's plans in north-central Washington jump as much as 45 percent. Molina, UnitedHealthcare, Premera, LifeWise, and Community Health Plan of Washington all land in the low-to-mid twenties. The statewide weighted average of all the filings is 22.4 percent.

This is the finding I care about most across all four states I have now done. The increases are not a symptom of carriers fleeing. Indiana and Oregon lost insurers and raised prices. Washington kept every one of them and raised prices just as hard. Whatever is driving 2027 premiums, competition is not restraining it. And every carrier's own filing names the same two causes: medical cost trend, and the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits, which pushes healthier people out of the risk pool and leaves a sicker, more expensive one behind.

Kaiser is the exception

One carrier is holding the line. Kaiser Permanente, across both its Washington entities, filed the lowest increases in the state, 9.5 percent for its Northwest plans and 14 percent for its Washington plans, and its surviving plans move even less at the median. In southeast Washington a Kaiser gold plan goes up 0.3 percent.

Kaiser is an integrated system: it owns its hospitals and employs its doctors, so the cost trend everyone else is passing straight through to premiums shows up smaller inside its own walls. That is worth holding onto the next time someone tells you these increases are simply unavoidable. For one carrier, competing in the same state under the same rules, they were largely avoided.

Every on-exchange Washington plan, 2026 to 2027

Pick a rating area. Each row is one plan: where it priced in 2026, where it prices in 2027, and what moved. King County is the default because it holds the most plans and the most people.

Rating area Area 1 · King County Area 2 · Olympic Peninsula and SW coast Area 3 · Southwest Washington Area 4 · Spokane and the northeast Area 5 · South Puget Sound Area 6 · Central Washington Area 7 · North-central Washington Area 8 · Northwest Washington Area 9 · Southeast Washington

Metal

All PlatinumGoldSilverExpanded BronzeBronzeCatastrophic

Show plans leaving this area

Area 2, Olympic Peninsula and SW coast. Bremerton, Port Angeles, Longview. 8 counties: Clallam, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Kitsap, Lewis, Pacific, Wahkiakum.

2026 premium 2027 premium Available here in 2027 only Available here in 2026 only

$200$400$600$800$1000$1200

Ambetter 10 plans

Ambetter Cascade Select Bronze Expanded Bronze $300 → $390 +29.8%

Ambetter Cascade Bronze Expanded Bronze $412 New

Ambetter Balanced Care 4 Silver $475 Dropped

Ambetter Cascade Select Vital Gold Gold $381 → $492 +29.1%

Ambetter Cascade Vital Gold Gold $398 → $520 +30.8%

Ambetter Cascade Select Complete Gold Gold $407 → $522 +28.2%

Ambetter Secure Care 5 Gold $395 → $523 +32.6%

Ambetter Cascade Complete Gold Gold $426 → $553 +29.9%

Ambetter Cascade Select Silver Silver $488 → $618 +26.5%

Ambetter Cascade Silver Silver $510 → $654 +28.3%

UnitedHealthcare 10 plans

UHC Bronze Value HSA Expanded Bronze $488 Dropped

UHC Bronze Essential Bronze $454 → $569 +25.4%

UnitedHealthcare of Oregon, Inc. Cascade Vital Gold Gold $620 Dropped

UnitedHealthcare of Oregon, Inc. Cascade Bronze Expanded Bronze $499 → $628 +25.9%

UHC Bronze Value Expanded Bronze was “UHC Bronze Essential (Off Exchange Only)” in 2026 sold elsewhere in 2026, new to this area in 2027 $637 New to area

UnitedHealthcare of Oregon, Inc. Cascade Vital Gold Gold was “UHC Bronze Value HSA (Off Exchange Only)” in 2026 sold elsewhere in 2026, new to this area in 2027 $798 New to area

UHC Gold Advantage Gold $650 → $836 +28.6%

UnitedHealthcare of Oregon, Inc. Cascade Complete Gold Gold $660 → $849 +28.6%

UnitedHealthcare of Oregon, Inc. Cascade Silver Silver $782 → $1008 +28.9%

UHC Silver Copay Focus Silver $782 → $1009 +29.0%

Molina 4 plans

Molina Cascade Bronze Expanded Bronze $373 → $483 +29.3%

Molina Cascade Vital Gold Gold $462 → $608 +31.8%

Molina Cascade Complete Gold Gold $491 → $646 +31.6%

Molina Cascade Silver Silver $579 → $763 +31.7%

CHPW 4 plans

Community Health Plan of Washington Cascade Select Bronze Expanded Bronze $301 → $384 +27.4%

Community Health Plan of Washington Cascade Select Vital Gold Gold $384 → $497 +29.6%

Community Health Plan of Washington Cascade Select Complete Gold Gold $410 → $533 +30.0%

Community Health Plan of Washington Cascade Select Silver Silver $491 → $597 +21.5%

Premera 8 plans

Premera Blue Cross Preferred Bronze HSA Expanded Bronze $597 Dropped

Premera Blue Cross Cascade Bronze Expanded Bronze $614 → $733 +19.3%

Premera Blue Cross Preferred Bronze Expanded Bronze $616 → $753 +22.2%

Premera Blue Cross Preferred Silver Silver $961 Dropped

Premera Blue Cross Preferred Gold Gold $779 → $965 +24.0%

Premera Blue Cross Cascade Vital Gold Gold $812 → $992 +22.2%

Premera Blue Cross Cascade Complete Gold Gold $853 → $1039 +21.8%

Premera Blue Cross Cascade Silver Silver $1022 → $1216 +18.9%

LifeWise 11 plans

LifeWise Cascade Select Bronze Expanded Bronze $324 → $387 +19.2%

LifeWise Cascade Bronze Expanded Bronze $417 → $498 +19.3%

LifeWise Essential Bronze Expanded Bronze $407 → $500 +22.9%

LifeWise Cascade Select Vital Gold Gold $425 → $518 +21.9%

LifeWise Cascade Select Complete Gold Gold $445 → $549 +23.4%

LifeWise Cascade Select Silver Silver $529 → $638 +20.6%

LifeWise Essential Silver Silver $649 Dropped

LifeWise Essential Gold Gold $527 → $659 +25.1%

LifeWise Cascade Vital Gold Gold $551 → $672 +22.1%

LifeWise Cascade Complete Gold Gold $578 → $714 +23.6%

LifeWise Cascade Silver Silver $689 → $832 +20.7%

Kaiser WA 12 plans

Basics Plus Catastrophic HSA Catastrophic was “Basics Plus Catastrophic” in 2026 $193 → $230 +19.5%

Bronze HSA Expanded Bronze $360 Dropped

VisitsPlus Bronze Expanded Bronze $366 Dropped

Kaiser Permanente Cascade Bronze Expanded Bronze $367 → $426 +16.3%

Bronze HSA Expanded Bronze $432 New

VisitsPlus Bronze HSA Expanded Bronze $432 New

Gold HSA Gold $457 → $506 +10.7%

Kaiser Permanente Cascade Vital Gold Gold $456 → $511 +11.9%

VisitsPlus Gold Gold $474 → $525 +10.9%

Kaiser Permanente Cascade Complete Gold Gold $488 → $540 +10.7%

VisitsPlus Silver Silver $575 Dropped

Kaiser Permanente Cascade Silver Silver $579 → $688 +18.8%

Wellpoint 3 plans

Wellpoint Cascade Vital Gold Gold $412 → $483 +17.1%

Wellpoint Cascade Complete Gold Gold $441 → $516 +17.0%

Wellpoint Cascade Silver Silver $529 → $619 +17.0%

BridgeSpan 4 plans

BridgeSpan Cascade Bronze Expanded Bronze $495 → $569 +15.1%

BridgeSpan Cascade Vital Gold Gold $653 → $736 +12.7%

BridgeSpan Cascade Complete Gold Gold $719 → $832 +15.7%

BridgeSpan Cascade Silver Silver $834 → $969 +16.2%

Kaiser NW 9 plans

KP Cascade Bronze Expanded Bronze $395 → $425 +7.7%

KP WA Bronze HSA 9500 Expanded Bronze was “KP WA Bronze 9100” in 2026 $388 → $430 +10.9%

KP WA Bronze HSA 7800 Expanded Bronze was “KP WA Bronze HSA 7100” in 2026 $395 → $432 +9.3%

KP Cascade Vital Gold Gold $462 → $507 +9.9%

KP WA Gold 2000 Gold was “KP WA Gold 1750” in 2026 $472 → $517 +9.5%

KP Cascade Complete Gold Gold $491 → $539 +9.8%

KP WA Gold 0 Gold $495 → $543 +9.7%

KP WA Silver 1000 Silver $600 Dropped

KP Cascade Silver Silver $597 → $657 +10.1%

Regence 7 plans

Bronze HSA 7000 Expanded Bronze $462 Dropped

Bronze Basic 10K Expanded Bronze $464 New

Bronze Essential 9000 Expanded Bronze was “Bronze Essential 8500” in 2026 $443 → $496 +11.9%

Regence Cascade Bronze Expanded Bronze $465 → $519 +11.6%

Regence Cascade Vital Gold Gold $615 → $671 +9.3%

Regence Cascade Complete Gold Gold $677 → $759 +12.2%

Regence Cascade Silver Silver $784 → $884 +12.7%

A few things worth finding:

• Kaiser holds the floor, Ambetter the ceiling. The gap between the mildest and steepest carrier is more than 40 points, in the same state, in the same year.
• Crowded and still expensive. In King County, with eight carriers on the shelf, the cheapest surviving silver plan is Community Health Plan of Washington's at about $544. Competition set the floor; it did not stop the floor from rising.
• The middle of the market is a wall. The middle half of surviving plans land between +12.7 and +26.8 percent. This is broad, not a few outliers.

The same plan ID is not the same plan

Of the 417 continuing plan and rating-area combinations, only 21 changed their marketing name. That is a far lower rate than Indiana or Oregon, where more than half did. Washington's carriers largely left their plans intact and simply raised the price, which makes the year-over-year comparison here unusually clean: when the tracker says a Washington plan went up 22 percent, it is almost always the same plan.

How I built this, and what it does not tell you

Every number comes from the CMS Rates Table Template inside each insurer's SERFF health plan binder, joined to the plan names on each binder's summary page. Age 21, non-tobacco, on-exchange only.

Two Washington-specific notes. Regence files under two separate HIOS issuer IDs, one of them just for Clark County across the river from Portland, and I treat both, plus BridgeSpan, as the single Cambia parent they belong to. And two issuers are excluded because none of their plans are on-exchange: Asuris Northwest Health, and Providence, whose only Washington individual plans were off-exchange before it left.

The caveats:

1. 2027 rates are proposed, not approved. Washington's Office of the Insurance Commissioner reviews these and final rates can move.
2. This is age 21, on-exchange, before subsidies. About two-thirds of Washington exchange enrollees receive premium tax credits, and with the enhanced credits expiring the gap between these numbers and what people actually pay is about to widen sharply.
3. Off-exchange plans are excluded, along with the two off-exchange-only issuers noted above.