Washington’s Office of the Insurance Commissioner has approved an average rate increase of 22.2 percent for the 2027 Exchange health insurance market, a shade under the 22.4 percent that insurers asked for. The office counts 281,055 people as affected by the rate changes across the approved plans. Both figures describe the state’s Exchange market as a whole, so no single household’s renewal notice is likely to show exactly 22.2 percent.

The 22.2 percent figure is an average, and it is the approved one

In its September 9, 2026 announcement, the commissioner’s office said insurance companies requested a 22.4 percent rate change and that 22.2 percent was found to be actuarially justified. The approved number is therefore the lower of the two, though only by two-tenths of a point. It is also an aggregate across every company and plan in the Exchange table, not the increase attached to any one insurer.

The distinction matters because the table underneath the headline number shows wide movement in both directions. Some insurers received less than they requested, and some received more. The office’s own average hides both ends of that range.

Twelve insurers, approved increases from 6.7 percent to 30.5 percent

The commissioner’s office says twelve health insurers have been approved to sell individual health plans in Washington’s Exchange in 2027. Their approved average rate changes, as listed in the office’s table, run as follows:

• Regence BlueShield: 6.7 percent approved, against 8.6 percent requested, the lowest increase in the table.
• Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest: 10.0 percent approved, against 9.5 percent requested.
• BridgeSpan Health Company: 11.1 percent approved, against 12.7 percent requested.
• Wellpoint Washington: 13.8 percent approved, against 13.7 percent requested.
• Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington: 14.1 percent approved, against 14.0 percent requested.
• Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oregon: 18.4 percent approved, against 17.4 percent requested.
• LifeWise Health Plan of Washington: 22.5 percent approved, against 21.3 percent requested.
• UnitedHealthcare of Oregon: 24.3 percent approved, against 26.4 percent requested.
• Molina Healthcare of Washington: 24.4 percent approved, against 25.8 percent requested.
• Premera Blue Cross: 25.1 percent approved, against 24.0 percent requested.
• Coordinated Care Corporation: 25.2 percent approved, against 27.8 percent requested.
• Community Health Plan of Washington: 30.5 percent approved, against 24.5 percent requested, the highest increase in the table and 6.0 points above its request.

A thirteenth company, Asuris Northwest Health, requested 14.9 percent but sells only outside the Exchange, and the office says its rate has yet to be approved. It is not part of the 22.2 percent approved average.

What the 281,055 count covers

The office’s table carries a column headed “Number of people impacted,” and the total row reads 281,055. The table’s caption describes it as approved health insurance plans and rates for the 2027 Exchange market, so the count is an Exchange figure and not a tally of every Washington resident with individual coverage. Its own announcement separately notes that nearly 250,000 Washington residents bought individual health plans through the Exchange in 2026, and that small businesses with fewer than 50 employees also use the Exchange to cover workers.

A separate state document, a plans-by-county report dated September 4, 2026, lists 13 carriers and 81 Exchange plans for plan year 2027: 1 catastrophic, 26 bronze, 16 silver and 38 gold, with none at the platinum level. The same document lists a second set of 53 plans sold outside the Exchange. Its counts include plans sold on the Exchange only and plans sold both on and off the Exchange. Availability varies by county; Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington, for example, is listed in 17 counties, Regence BlueShield in 24 and Molina in 23.

Expired tax credits and the shape of the risk pool

Commissioner Patty Kuderer tied the increase to the cost of care. “This is, unfortunately, a reflection of the increasing cost of care,” she said in the announcement. “Families shouldn’t experience sticker shock every year when shopping for health insurance, but these pressures are likely to continue without changes that slow health care spending, improve affordability and keep more people covered.”

The office also points to the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits. According to the announcement, those credits had helped cut enrollees’ average annual premium costs by $1,330. That figure describes what the expired credits were worth on average; it is not the dollar size of the 2027 increase, and the two cannot be added together. The office’s reasoning is that the expiration makes coverage less affordable, which prompts healthier people, those less likely to need health services, to drop their coverage.

How the commissioner’s office reviews a filing and where the filings are posted

The office publishes each insurer’s request in a searchable tool. Its help page for the health rate search tool says the summaries show the average percentage change the company is requesting, when the new rate takes effect and the number of people impacted. Decision memos explaining an approval or denial are available through the same lookup, and visitors can subscribe to email notices when a company files, withdraws, revises or receives a decision.

The same page describes the review in plain terms: “Part of our rate review includes double-checking and verifying the company’s information. If we disagree with the company’s data, we may deny the rate change.” Several insurers ended up above their own requests, and the overall approved average still landed two-tenths of a point under the requested 22.4 percent.

Shopping for 2027 coverage runs through Washington Healthplanfinder, which describes itself as the official ACA-compliant health benefit exchange for the state and is run by the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. The site says tax credits and Cascade Care Savings reduce the amount paid monthly and are available only through Healthplanfinder.

The figures in this piece come from the commissioner’s office announcement, which is the record of what was approved. Its table, not any average, is the place to find what a given insurer’s approved change is.

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Medicare enrollees have a separate set of cost rules

The rate decision above applies to Washington’s Exchange market, which serves people buying coverage before Medicare age. Households that include a Medicare beneficiary face a different set of premium, drug-cost and appeal rules that do not move with the Exchange table.

The Medicare Cost & Coverage Protection Kit is a 10-page kit that includes 51 state Medicare cost-help packs, the Part D out-of-pocket cap and a medication and cost tracker for keeping drug spending in one place.

Download The Medicare Cost & Coverage Protection Kit for the Part D out-of-pocket cap →

This piece was drafted with AI assistance; the figures were checked against the Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner’s 2027 Exchange rate announcement and its supporting state documents.