Dive Brief:

Affordable Care Act plans across the U.S. are seeking a median 18% premium increase next year — more than double last year’s 7%, according to a new analysis of preliminary rate filings by health policy think tank the KFF.

Insurers said the hike — the largest midpoint increase the industry has asked for since 2018 — is necessary due to elevated medical costs and utilization, along with the upcoming expiration of generous federal subsidies for ACA plans.

Proposed rates could change before being finalized in late summer, the KFF said. Still, that includes the chance they could be upwardly revised as well, after some major payers told investors late July that they plan to refile plan bids to further raise premiums after seeing costs increase in the second quarter.

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