Premiums also saw a large increase due a cynical and intentional move by the GOP congress to withhold funds from insurers that were initially promised for the first few years while they sort their pricing out.

Part of the initial law were "high risk corridors" to limit the losses for insurers that initially mispriced their ACA plans. The insurance companies had to make a ton of assumptions about the age, health, and wealth of the populations who would sign up for their plans. To make sure they didn't accidentally bankrupt themselves, the law provided funds to limit their losses for the first three years of the exchanges (2014-2016). In the first year, they had a shortfall as the population was older and sicker than expected, so CMS was going to cover the $2.5 billion gap but congress refused to let them pay these user fees.

The GOP knew that the premium changes would come during the election season, so they denied funding for the high risk corridors last year. To give themselves room against mispricing, the insurance companies predictably raised premiums beyond where they would otherwise have been. Other insurance companies decided they didn't want the risk, so they pulled out of the marketplaces.

The election season was rife with announcements about "20% premium increases" and "xx Insurance company exits the exchange market". Millions of people get to pay more for health insurance but at least their guy won the race.