New York's health insurers asked for premium increases three to four times higher than what regulators approved, and the gap between the two numbers shows the state's 2027 renewal season.
The Department of Financial Services (DFS) authorized average increases of 6% for individual market plans and 8% for small-group plans covering employers with fewer than 100 workers, cutting requests of 20.6% and 23.7%, respectively. DFS projects those reductions will save approximately 860,000 enrolled New Yorkers around $1.6 billion compared to what carriers had filed.
The approved rates arrive as open enrollment approaches and as benefits advisers in New York work through 2027 renewals for small-employer clients. The headline averages, however, obscure wide variation by carrier that will shape those conversations.
MVP Health Plan, one of the larger carriers in the state's small-group market, received approval for a 13.6% average increase despite DFS intervention, well above the 8% average. MVP Health Service Corp. was approved for 5.6%, against a requested 12%. Schenectady-based CDPHP was approved for a 9.7% small-group increase, down from its requested 14.1%. Highmark is the only small-group carrier receiving no rate increase; it had sought 9.2%.
Michelle Golden, a spokesperson for MVP Health Care, told the Daily Gazette that the increases were attributed to rising medical and pharmacy costs and greater utilization of care.
Eric Linzer, president and CEO of the New York Health Plan Association, which represents state insurers, told the news outlet that the approved rates "fail to fully account" for the major factors driving premiums, including hospital and drug pricing and new taxes on health plans. “Suppressing rates in the name of affordability does nothing to contain the cost of care," he said. "Instead, it ignores the ongoing escalation of provider and pharmaceutical prices.”
New York healthcare spending averages approximately 30% above the national average, according to the Health Care Cost Institute.
The insurer lobby's objection points to a structural tension in the New York small-group market. DFS cut what carriers requested, but the underlying cost pressures remain unchanged. Hospital costs in the US grew 7.5% in 2025, more than double the rate of hospital price growth, according to the American Hospital Association. That gap between price and volume growth is one reason insurer cost projections routinely outpace final approved rates.
The approved rates represent the floor of what clients will pay, rather than a ceiling on what drives those rates. A client on MVP Health Plan faces a 13.6% increase despite regulatory intervention, while a client on CDPHP faces 9.7%. Neither figure reflects the national median of 14% that KFF documented in rate filings from nearly 300 insurers across all 50 states, but both land above the DFS-approved average the headline conveys. The cost drivers Linzer cited, including hospital pricing and pharmacy costs, apply to every renewal regardless of what DFS approved this cycle.
Barry Thornton II, CEO of CDPHP, told the Daily Gazette that his company is focused on managing administrative costs and investing in operational efficiency while continuing to deliver affordable coverage, noting that the plan faces pressure from drug prices, hospital costs, taxes, and changes to the Medicare Wage Index.
