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Ann Woloson is executive director of Consumers for Affordable Health Care and recent recipient of a Families USA Health Advocate of the Year award.
The crisis in healthcare affordability is about to get worse.
Last week, the Maine Bureau of Insurance released approved rate increases for health insurance for 2027 — and the news is bad for consumers.
Mainers who receive their health insurance through the individual market, many of whom are self-employed or not offered coverage through work, will see rates increase 13.5% For the small group market, the increase will be 14.8%. That’s a double-digit increase — again.
While most individuals who purchase coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace receive some help paying for it, these increases are making it extremely difficult for many Mainers and small businesses to access the coverage they need.
With the price of basics such as electricity, groceries and gas increasing, too many families are having to choose between health insurance and other necessities. They simply can’t stretch their dollars far enough.
A survey of Maine voters released this spring revealed that more than four out of 10, almost half of Maine families, carry burdensome medical debt. Most Mainers attribute their medical debt to hospital services, with one out of three carrying $5,000 or more. Hospital services contribute the most to total health care spending, followed by physician services and prescription drugs.
Per capita hospital expenses have significantly outpaced inflation nationally and Maine households’ median income. This trajectory is unsustainable.
This year’s insurance rate increases only add to big hikes that went into effect last year. Individuals without employer-sponsored coverage saw an average increase of 24% in their monthly premiums. Premiums for small businesses increased an average of 17%.
Data from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services show a 9.5% decline in total enrollment in Maine’s marketplace in 2026 from 2025 (from 64,678 to 58,523). The decrease is in large part the result of increased costs and decreased federal premium subsidies.
The February survey found that two out of three families have experienced negative consequences from their efforts to pay their medical bills. Thirty-five percent of families say they haven’t been able to afford heating fuel, food or housing due to medical bills. A third report being hounded by collection agencies, while others report using all of their savings and taking on new credit card debt. They’ve even been forced to take out a new mortgage on their homes or raid their retirement accounts.
But the tragedy doesn’t stop there. Mainers are also delaying or skipping needed medical care due to the cost. Nearly half of Mainers say they have delayed going in for dental care, 40% skipped a visit to the doctor when they were ill and three in 10 say they have put off needed medical tests because they could afford it.
As Mainer’s brace themselves for the next round of health insurance rate increases, they broadly agree on what has gone wrong and what they want to happen.
Almost two out of three voters in Maine believe the state’s health care system can be described as “unaffordable” or “profit-centered,” and half of all voters believe the state’s health care system is “confusing.”
Their fix? Eighty-five percent of Mainers support limiting the amount paid for hospital services. Seventy-five percent of people say they would support a government-run, public health insurance option, and 67% say that every Mainer should have access to health care affordability.
As Mainers learn about their health insurance rates for next year and begin to reckon with the consequences, it’s critical — and politically expedient — for policymakers to take a hard look at the way we pay for health care, review the cost drivers and develop solutions that can ease the financial strain and worry our current system creates.