Premiums under the Affordable Care Act will rise 
in nearly every state this year, spiking health 
insurance costs for nearly all Americans, 
according to a new report.
All states, with the exception of Mississippi,
 saw the cost of health insurance premiums
 increase for 2016. And in most states, 
Americans using Obamacare’s individual 
marketplace to purchase insurance saw 
premium costs rise by double digits.
Freedom Partners, a nonprofit organization 
advocating free markets and limited government, reported that four states—Minnesota, Alaska, Tennessee, and Hawaii—will be
 hit with average premium increases of 30
 percent or more. Another 17 states will see
 spikes of at least 20 percent.
Nathan Nascimento, the group’s senior policy
 adviser, said a “sicker risk pool” coupled with Obamacare’s “onerous and crushing
mandates” caused the across-the-board hikes

“In many states, insurers
 are finding increased
costs and burdensome mandates under the law
 to be unsustainable, and are exiting the
marketplace altogether,” Nascimento told The
 Daily Signal, adding:
Others are facing a variety of harmful side

effects of Obamacare, with young, healthy

people opting out of coverage or finding

their plans unaffordable and dropping out

before the end of the year.
This state-by-state chart summarizes the
 group’s findings:
Graphic: Freedom Partners. Used with permission from Rebecca Coffman.
Graphic: Freedom Partners. Used with permission.
Americans living in Minnesota will be hurt the most,
 with premium costs expected to skyrocket nearly
 48 percent, Freedom Partners’ “2016 Obamacare Premium Increase Tracker” found.
Alaska faces increases around 39 percent, 
Tennessee around 35 percent, and Hawaii
 around 30 percent.
The only state where premiums are expected 
to fall is Mississippi. Those who reside in the 
Magnolia State can expect a 0.2-percent drop.
Drew Gonshorowski, a senior policy analyst at 
The Heritage Foundation who tracks premium
 increases under Obamacare, said costs also 
may be rising because insurance companies 
initially priced their plans too low.
“Every year, historically, premiums have gone up a decent amount,” Gonshorowski told The Daily Signal. “But in these cases, a lot of this has to do
 with some insurers coming into the market a little
 lower than what they had thought was reasonable
and now they’re trying to recoup losses.”
He also attributed the premium increases to
 individuals who enrolled in the insurance 
exchanges while less healthy than insurers 
predicted.
“There is some evidence that utilization is up 
from this population, and if people use their health insurance more, or use their health providers more, 
it costs the insurers more,” Gonshorowski said.
It also causes insurance companies to pay out
 more than anticipated, he said, so they have to
 raise premiums to compensate for the losses.
The biggest issue with the Affordable Care Act, 
he said, is that the law puts restrictions on how 
insurers can price plans in the market.
“A repeal of the ACA would take away these 
restrictions,” Gonshorowski said. “They would allow insurers to price more flexibly and actually price to the cost of their enrollees. The evidence shows that that would bring premiums down.”
Nascimento said that although repealing the
 health care law would “eliminate the excessive
 mandates and regulations” spurring premium
 increases, a repeal alone would not be enough 
to fix the health care system:
We need to see further free-market reforms to truly lower costs for all Americans. Broadly, we need to get government regulations out of the way and truly reform how health care is delivered by eliminating barriers to care and unshackling providers.
But it isn’t just premiums that are increasing. Gonshorowski said that based on his own research with Heritage, the cost of deductibles also is rising.
He said the best thing Americans who are facing more expensive health care costs can do is shop around on the marketplace to look for cheaper options.
“It really does seem like the plans that captured market share are interested in increasing prices for people,” the Heritage policy analyst said.