– The Washington Times
Health insurance premiums have skyrocketed roughly 90% on average since Obamacare launched in March 2010, and the price of health care remains stubborn against political efforts to control it.
In 2010, the average annual premium for single coverage was $5,066, while the average annual family coverage premium was $13,890. Those numbers hit $9,325 and $26,993 for single and family coverage, respectively, in 2025.
U.S. health care costs grow faster than inflation, exceeding other large, wealthy nations in per capita health spending, according to KFF, a health policy research non-profit.
Against this backdrop, some of the top health care executives in the U.S. will face an all-day grilling Thursday in front of two House committees.
The House lawmakers, who are also on the spot this election year about health care, want to identify the root cause of the high costs and what policies will bend the cost curve down.
Some of the drivers of high premiums are known: high prescription drug prices and popular but expensive new drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro, the prevalence of chronic diseases and the increased use and price of medical services.
Even as four in 10 insured adults under 65 are worried about affording their monthly health insurance premiums, the average pay of hospital CEOs rose by 27.5% from 2009 to 2023.
On the congressional hot seat Thursday are UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley, CVS Health CEO David Joyner, Elevance Health CEO Gail Boudreaux, Cigna Group CEO David Cordani and Ascendiun CEO Paul Markovich.
Last year, these five executives each pocketed annual compensation worth tens of millions of dollars. Their combined annual compensation topped $140 million.
Since 2010, most of the major health insurers’ stocks rose by 680% on average, far outpacing inflation and wage growth over the same period.
Health insurance premiums have risen sharply due to numerous structural cost drivers — a surge in prescription drug spending, consolidation in the provider market, administrative costs and the prevalence of chronic diseases — which includes inflation.
On top of these factors, the Consumer Price Index increased roughly 45–50% from 2010 to 2025, compounding underlying medical cost increases and raising the baseline cost of providing coverage.
Insurance companies blamed President Trump’s tariff wars for helping push up health care premiums, saying it would drive up the cost for prescription drugs imported into the U.S.
As the average American watched health insurance premiums climb higher and higher, Affordable Care Act premiums also rose.
ACA premiums increased by more than 20% in 2026, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a non-partisan health policy think tank. This is largely in part because insurers believe they face increased risk due to the expiration of the enhanced Obamacare subsidies at the end of 2025.
Democratic lawmakers in Congress insist that federal subsidies are needed to offset the high cost of health insurance for people on the ACA Marketplace.
Since the launch of Obamacare, hospital and provider consolidation is cited as a key driver of premium costs, as insurers increasingly negotiate with large health systems that can demand higher reimbursement rates, which are then reflected in premiums.
Premiums have also climbed not only because Americans use more care, but because insurers are covering a more at-risk population, while being legally barred from pricing risk the way they once did.
• Mary McCue Bell can be reached at mbell@washingtontimes.com.
