UnitedHealthcare leaves Georgia's ACA market as 2027 premiums climb
UnitedHealthcare will stop selling Affordable Care Act plans in Georgia next year after state regulators objected to a 54% rate hike. Its members must pick a new plan when enrollment opens Nov. 1. Nationally, insurers proposed a median 15% premium increase for 2027.
UnitedHealthcare will leave Georgia's Affordable Care Act marketplace in 2027, Medical Daily reported. State regulators had objected to the insurer's request to raise rates by about 54%.
"United came to us a while back and then requested a rather significant rate increase, and so we didn't feel like that was fair for Georgians," said Garrison Bennett, press secretary for Georgia's insurance commissioner. After the state pushed back, he said, United told regulators it would leave.
UnitedHealthcare did not discuss the rate fight. It said it will keep serving Georgians through off-exchange individual and family plans, employer plans and Medicare plans. Its marketplace members will need to choose a new insurer for coverage starting Jan. 1. Cigna is also leaving Georgia's marketplace at the end of 2026.
Georgia shoppers face steep costs. Final marketplace rates for 2027 rise about 20.7% on average. The state also will not offer the usual "window-shopping" period to preview plans. "This year, due to some changes, we are unable to put forward a window-shopping period before open enrollment," Bennett told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Enrollment in Georgia Access has already dropped about 30%, from about 1.3 million people in 2025 to about 900,000 in September.
The squeeze is national. Insurers proposed a median 15% premium increase for 2027, according to a KFF analysis of 276 insurers in all 50 states and D.C. It is the second year in a row of double-digit hikes. Insurers point to rising medical costs, labor shortages and spending on GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
Larger federal tax credits ended after 2025. KFF said that led healthier people to drop coverage. The sicker group left behind is expected to add about 4 percentage points to 2027 premiums. People who get subsidies may pay less than the full-price increase, since aid adjusts with plan costs.
Open enrollment on Georgia Access runs Nov. 1, 2026, to Jan. 15, 2027. Experts suggest listing every doctor, hospital and medicine your family uses, then checking each plan's network. Compare prices after tax credits, plus deductibles and out-of-pocket limits. People in the middle of treatment should ask a new insurer how it will handle prior approvals.
What we know: United and Cigna are leaving Georgia's marketplace, and enrollment opens Nov. 1.
What we don't: How many current members will find an affordable replacement plan.
Where outlets agree Medical Daily and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution both report Georgia will skip its usual window-shopping period before open enrollment.
Where they differ Georgia regulators say United left after they pushed back on its rate request, while UnitedHealthcare's statement did not address the rate dispute.