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Monthly health insurance premiums for Affordable Care Act (ACA) benchmark plans increased by an average of 3.4% in 2023. That's the key takeaway from a new analysis by the nonprofit Urban Institute.

The premium increase reverses a national trend of annual premium reductions from 2019 to 2022, when average benchmark premiums decreased by an average of 2.2% annually. Researchers point to persistent inflation that drove overall health care costs upward and uncertainty regarding whether the ACA's enhanced premium tax credits would be extended as primary drivers of the increase in premiums.

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