Once-Soaring Obamacare Premium Increases Come Down to Earth

Consumers buying health insurance through Obamacare are likely to see only modest premium increases next year as the program’s once-troubled marketplaces continue to show signs of improvement.

Early reports from states that have released 2020 rate requests by insurers generally show low rates of increases. In a number of states, the proposed premium increases are 3% or less. In Maryland, rates would actually decline. “The markets have been stabilizing,” David Dillon, senior vice president and principal of Allen, Texas-based actuarial consulting firm Lewis & Ellis Inc., said in an interview.

Affordable Care Act advocates and Democrats have lambasted the ...