Recent filings with the Arizona Department of Insurance show health insurers offering marketplace plans will increase their premiums by as much as 122 percent in 2017.
Officials with the U.S. Department of Health And Human Services say about 68 percent of consumers in the state will still pay less than $75 a month next year.
Katie Martin, an HHS spokeswoman, explained that’s possible thanks to federal tax credits.
"Tax credits are designed to protect consumers from rate increases and keep coverage affordable by increasing when the cost of the second lowest cost silver or benchmark plan increases," she said.
Martin added the agency expected these premium spikes. When the Affordable Care Act launched in 2013, insurers priced their plans below cost to stay competitive. She said, federal funding to insurers for high cost enrollees is also set to expire in 2017.
