AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine residents who purchase their own health insurance, along with many small businesses offering employee coverage, should prepare for higher premiums in 2027.
The Maine Bureau of Insurance has finalized health insurance rates for the state’s individual and small group markets beginning January 1, 2027. The approved rates represent an average increase of 14.8% for the individual market and 13.5% for the small employer market, which includes businesses with 50 or fewer employees.
The increases are significant, although they are lower than what insurers originally requested. Health insurers initially sought average increases of 16.8% for individual plans and 15.7% for small group coverage.
Why Is Health Insurance Getting More Expensive in Maine?
According to the Maine Bureau of Insurance, several factors are contributing to higher premiums, including:
- Increased use of health care services
- Rising prescription medication costs
- More expensive contracts with health care providers
- Inflation-related price increases throughout the economy
Maine is not alone in facing substantial increases. The Bureau cited an analysis from KFF, formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation, that found insurers nationally had proposed a median rate increase of 15%.
“The rising cost of health care is making health coverage more expensive for consumers in Maine and across the country,” Acting Maine Bureau of Insurance Superintendent Timothy Schott said in announcing the finalized rates.
While the Bureau reviews insurers’ proposed rates, its authority is focused on determining whether rates are excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory based on insurers’ expected costs.
Federal law also requires insurers to spend at least 80 cents of every premium dollar on health care services, a requirement intended to prevent insurer profits from driving premium increases.
Financial Assistance Could Reduce the Impact for Some Mainers
The individual insurance market covers approximately 65,000 Maine residents who purchase health insurance themselves, primarily through the state’s marketplace. More than 70% of people purchasing individual coverage through CoverME.govcurrently receive advance premium tax credits that substantially reduce the premiums they pay.
Because individual circumstances and available financial assistance can affect the actual amount a household pays, a 14.8% average market increase does not necessarily mean every policyholder’s out-of-pocket premium will increase by exactly 14.8%.
Small businesses will also be watching costs closely. More than 36,000 Maine residents currently receive health insurance through a small employer, and the approved average increase for that market is 13.5%.
Changes Coming in 2027
Consumers shopping for coverage will encounter additional changes for 2027.
Mending Health, formerly Taro Health, is leaving Maine’s health insurance market and will no longer offer coverage.
Anthem is also discontinuing individual preferred provider organization, or PPO, plans through CoverME.gov. Anthem will continue selling individual PPO coverage outside the marketplace and PPO plans to small groups.
Marketplace customers enrolled in an Anthem PPO or Mending Health plan when Open Enrollment begins will automatically be re-enrolled in another available 2027 plan.
However, the Bureau recommends that affected consumers actively compare plans rather than relying solely on automatic re-enrollment. Shopping through CoverME.govalso allows consumers to determine whether they qualify for financial assistance.
What New Maine Residents Should Know
For people planning a move to Maine in 2027, health insurance expenses are an important part of calculating the overall cost of relocation.
Newcomers who will not have coverage through a large employer, Medicare, MaineCare or another source may need to purchase coverage through the individual market. That makes comparing premiums, deductibles, provider networks, prescription coverage and potential financial assistance particularly important when preparing a relocation budget.
With average individual-market rates increasing 14.8% in 2027, prospective Maine residents purchasing their own insurance should account for health coverage alongside housing, utilities, taxes and other expenses when estimating the cost of living in Maine.