House Panels Grill Health Insurers Over Soaring Premiums
CEOs from UnitedHealth, CVS, Cigna, Elevance and Ascendiun faced lawmakers on Jan. 22 over 2026 premium spikes and prior authorization practices.
Overview
On Jan. 22, Stephen Hemsley, chief executive of UnitedHealth Group, told House committees that UnitedHealth will rebate profits earned this year from its Affordable Care Act plans, according to prepared remarks and committee records.
KFF found benchmark ACA premiums rose 26% on average for 2026 and projected enrollees' out-of-pocket payments could jump 114% after enhanced subsidies expired, while Mercer projects employer costs will rise 9%.
Lawmakers including Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., accused insurers of profiteering and vertical integration, while executives blamed higher hospital and drug prices, committee transcripts show.
Total U.S. health spending rose 7.2% to more than $5.3 trillion in 2024, CMS data show, and ACA marketplace enrollment stands at about 22.8 million this year, roughly 800,000 fewer than a year earlier.
Committee chairs said the hearings start a series probing cost drivers, and Congress has not resolved whether to renew enhanced ACA subsidies, a disputed issue lawmakers say is central to 2026 premiums.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the hearings around consumer harm and bipartisan outrage, using vivid language ('skyrocketed,' 'record profits') and prominent lawmaker quotations to foreground patient stories and financial grievance. Insurers' rebuttals are presented but less developed, and coverage's 'hodgepodge' label casts skepticism on the competing policy alternative. Quotes are source content; vivid verbs and descriptors are editorial choices.
Sources (5)
FAQ
ACA marketplace benchmark premiums rose 26% on average for 2026, with insurers proposing a median increase of 18% and some up to 59%; out-of-pocket payments for enrollees could jump 114% after enhanced subsidies expired.
ACA marketplace enrollment is at 22.8 million this year, down about 800,000 to 1.4 million from last year, due to expiring enhanced subsidies and rising premiums.
Insurers blamed higher hospital and drug prices, while lawmakers accused them of profiteering and vertical integration; total U.S. health spending rose 7.2% to $5.3 trillion in 2024.
Enhanced ACA premium tax credits expired at the end of 2025; Congress has not renewed them, leading to higher costs, with CBO estimating 4.2 million more uninsured by 2034.
History
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