July 16, 2025 02:47 PM UTC

Thanks, Congressional Republicans: Health Insurance Premiums to Increase 28% in 2026

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• by: Colorado Pols

It has been well documented that the “big, beautiful, bullshit budget bill” that Congressional Republicans passed earlier this month that was signed into law by President Trump will be devastating for millions of Americans who will lose access to health care coverage through Medicaid or food benefits from SNAP. In the final version of the bill, these cuts were set to begin after the 2026 mid-term election, which Republicans such as Rep. Jeff “Bread Sandwich” Hurd (R-Grand Junction) and Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Ft. Lupton) hope is enough time for you to forget about the coming misery.

No such luck, fellas.

As a press release from the office of Governor Jared Polis details, Coloradans are going to feel the pain of a minimum increase of 28% in their health care premiums in 2026:

The Colorado Division of Insurance (DOI), part of the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), released the preliminary information on private health insurance plans for 2026 for the individual market (for people who don’t get coverage from an employer plan). The filings will be public once the DOI finishes the preliminary completeness review on or about Friday, July 18.

Due to the passage of the federal tax bill cutting health care, combined with Republicans’ refusal to extend enhanced tax credits in Congress, the statewide average for submitted premium increases is an alarming 28%, and the Western part of the state, including Grand Junction, will see average premium increases over 38% for next year. These circumstances are not unique to Colorado, and other states will likely have similar increases. Driving these increases is the loss of additional financial assistance that helps middle-class Coloradans afford health insurance, and puts downward pressure on rates. Congress is letting this assistance expire on December 31 and the resulting premium increases will impact 321,000 Coloradans.

For comparison, average statewide increases were 5.6% in 2025, 9.7% in 2024, 10.4% in 2023 and 1.1% in 2022.

Take a look at this graphic to get a sense of the YUGE cost change thanks to Republicans:

Republicans may try to claim that this isn’t their fault…but, come on:

“Tragically, Congress is kicking people off their health care and has created chaos that is going to cost Coloradans money. We have not seen premium increases like this since the first Trump administration. Despite this, we will continue doing all that we can to increase access and save people money, but it’s really hard to do when what Congress is doing is leading to huge increases in the cost of health care nationally. I wanted people to know about these increases as soon as possible so Coloradans can plan,” said Governor Jared Polis. 

“We have been warning folks that the chaos being caused by the federal government for our health insurance markets was going to create real pain for Coloradans. These rate filings are a direct reflection of that. Premium increases hitting over 300,000 Coloradans means many will have to choose between access to health care and groceries, between access to health care and school supplies, between access to health care and paying their mortgage,” said Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway. “And it’s going to hit the mountain areas, the rural counties and the Western Slope the hardest, with average increases approaching 40%. The sad reality is that many of those folks will be forced to gamble with their health because they simply cannot afford these rate increases caused by the federal government.”

Things will be even worse in congressional district three, where Rep. Hurd twice signed letters opposing cuts to Medicaid — knowing the damage it would cause his district — but then twice voted for those same cuts anyway. Insurance premiums in Western Colorado are expected to increase by an average of 38%!!! If you live in Grand Junction and pay $400 a month for health insurance now, you can expect that bill to rise to at least $552 in 2026.

And you’ll know EXACTLY who to blame.