Blog / Health and ACA

Why did my Marketplace premium go up?

Four things can push a Marketplace premium up, and only one is about you. How to tell which one hit you, and what to do before you renew.

Updated September 3, 2026 · 3 min read · by Gerino Alejos

Your premium, the monthly bill for the plan, can go up from one January to the next even when nothing about your household changed. There are four causes. The most common one is a change in the one plan your discount is measured against, and each of the four has a different fix.

1. The benchmark plan changed

The Marketplace is the government site where you buy your own health plan. Your discount there is called the premium tax credit, or subsidy. It is worked out from the price of one plan in your area, the second lowest cost silver plan, and that plan is called the benchmark.

So the benchmark price sets the size of your discount. If a lower priced silver plan comes into your area, the benchmark price falls. Your discount falls with it, and the share of the bill left for you goes up.

Nothing about you changed, which is why this cause is hard to spot. It is also the most common cause. The fix is to shop again. If the benchmark moved, the plan that fits you probably moved too.

2. Your income estimate changed

Your credit is based on the income you tell the Marketplace you expect for the year. If you reported a higher figure, or the Marketplace updated it from tax data, the credit shrinks.

Read the income number your account is using right now. People are often surprised to find it is not the one they meant to give.

3. Rates rose across the market

Insurance companies file new prices every year, and they usually go up. That change hits everyone on that plan, not you in particular.

4. The subsidy rules themselves changed

Rules like this can change between the day we write and the day you read, so we do not print a number here.

How to work out which one hit you

1. Log in and check the income figure on your account. Wrong income is the fastest thing to fix.
2. Compare the full price of your plan, before the credit, against last year. If that rose a lot, it is a rate increase.
3. Compare your credit against last year. If the credit fell while your income stayed flat, it is the benchmark or a rules change.
4. Look at every plan open to you before you accept the renewal.

What to actually do

• Fix your income figure right away if it is wrong. It also prevents a surprise at tax time.
• Shop during open enrollment, the yearly window for picking a plan, instead of letting the old one roll over. See how renewal works.
• If you qualify for cost sharing reductions, a discount on what you pay at the doctor and the hospital, look at silver plans.
• If the new cost is out of reach, look at another metal level, the bronze, silver and gold groups, before you drop coverage. A bronze plan still has an out of pocket maximum, the most you can be asked to pay in a year. That still caps your worst year.

Check the income figure on your account, then compare this year's plans before the renewal goes through. See how the credit is worked out and what drives your cost. To go through your renewal notice with us, call our McAllen office at (956) 687 3334, or enter your ZIP code in the box on this page.

Gerino Alejos

Licensed insurance agent · License 3128710 · NPN 18243381

Owner of McAllen Insurance Group, an independent agency on North 10th Street in McAllen. Works with clients across Hidalgo, Cameron and Starr counties on Medicare, Marketplace health, life and auto coverage. Se habla español.