Two carriers are walking away from Oregon's individual health market - and the insurers sticking around want double-digit rate hikes for 2027.
Oregon's health insurers have filed proposed 2027 rates for individual and small group plans, opening a months-long review by the state's Division of Financial Regulation (DFR), according to the agency's release. The filings cover plans that comply with the Affordable Care Act for small businesses and for people who buy their own coverage rather than getting it through an employer.
For insurers, the headline is who's leaving. Providence and PacificSource will both exit the individual market at the end of the year and did not submit individual rate filings, the release states. That leaves four carriers in the individual market for 2027: Kaiser, Moda, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, and BridgeSpan. Three of them - Moda, BridgeSpan, and Regence - will sell statewide, while Kaiser is offering plans in 11 counties. DFR says every Oregon county will still have at least three choices, with four in the areas where Kaiser competes.
The rate requests are large. In the individual market, the four companies asked for average increases ranging from 11.7 percent (BridgeSpan) to 25 percent (Moda), for a weighted average of 17.5 percent - higher than last year's 9.7 percent. In the small group market, six companies filed for increases from 9.5 percent (Kaiser) to 28.9 percent (UnitedHealthcare), a weighted average of 17 percent, compared with 11.5 percent a year earlier.
One thing is holding rates down: the Oregon Reinsurance Program. DFR says it lowered rates by an average of 9.7 percent this year - the ninth straight year it has done so. The state has resubmitted a renewal request to the federal government to keep the program, and the Legislature adopted Gov. Kotek's 2025-27 funding plan, which continued the revenue streams that keep it stable.
The pressure on pricing is coming from several directions. The release points to the expiration of enhanced federal ACA subsidies, which it says has priced some Oregonians out of coverage entirely - the individual market shrank from roughly 161,000 enrollees in 2025 to about 140,000 in 2026, and the small group market slipped from about 142,000 to 134,000 over the same period.
That shrinkage adds risk for carriers pricing 2027 products. DFR also cites broad federal policy uncertainty, tariff effects on pharmaceutical drugs and durable medical equipment, and general inflation as cost drivers insurers built into their filings.
"Oregon consumers are facing challenging times with expiring premium tax credits, rising health insurance rates across the country, and two carriers leaving the Oregon market," said TK Keen, Oregon's insurance commissioner. He said the reinsurance program "continues to stabilize the market and keep rates lower than they would be by almost 10 percent next year."
None of the figures are locked in. DFR says it will independently analyze and confirm the filings before approving rates, weighing whether they cover insurers' expected costs without going beyond what's needed. Each carrier will present its request and field questions at a virtual public meeting set for 2 p.m. Monday, July 13, with a backup July 31 session if needed. Public comment runs through July 13, and a link to watch will be posted at oregonhealthrates.org. Final 2027 decisions are expected in September.
