By Michael Bielawski
The Green Mountain State will see the highest percentage increase in its healthcare premiums among all 50 states and the highest average premiums overall for 2025. This is according to data from KFF, a healthcare research and news company.
Vermont’s health insurance premiums are increasing 27%, the nation’s highest increase by a wide margin. The next highest increase was in New York at 19%, then Alaska at 15%.
The data was further analyzed by Value Penguin, a research company and a subsidiary of Lending Tree. It states, “From 2024 to 2025, health insurance rates across the nation increased by 7%. Vermont saw the largest jump, at 27%.”
Vermonters will pay for premiums an average of $1,157 per month, another new national high mark. The next highest is Alaska at $1,088 and then New York at $1,038. For 2024 Vermont was second in the nation for highest premiums, at $908 per month versus $948 for Alaska.
Folks getting sicker?
VermontBiz twice notes in its report on this data that overall operational costs for healthcare providers are rising.
“Four consecutive years of rate increases led to a 15% increase in health insurance premiums since 2022. Residents of 42 states will see higher premiums in 2025 – driven by the rising cost of medical care around the country,” it states.
Such is noted again in a quote by Value Penguin‘s health insurance expert Divya Sangameshwar.
“Private Health insurance premiums are rising 7% in 2025, due to ballooning healthcare costs – which get passed on to policyholders in the form of higher premiums,” she said.
The report does not speculate as to what’s causing the rise in expenses to take care of the public.
“Health insurance is getting more expensive, mostly because health care is getting more expensive,” it states. “The cost of medical care has more than doubled since 2000. More expensive medical care means health insurance companies have to pay more when you see a doctor. The companies charge higher rates to make sure they have enough to pay for your care.”
Third oldest state in the nation
in the 2020 census, Vermont was listed as the third oldest state in the nation, after Maine and New Hampshire. Age is a key driver of health care costs.
Workforce shortage driving expenses
The KFF report notes that “as general economic inflation pushes wages upward, health worker wage increases also put upward pressure on medical prices, unless hospitals and other providers can find ways to operate with fewer staff or cut other expenses.” In Vermont, the University of Vermont Health Network paid $112 million for well-paid ‘travel nurses’ last year due to the chronic shortage in nurses.
Large public subsidies?
Sangameshwar is further quoted, “However, most health insurance plans purchased from HealthCare.gov or state marketplaces receive rate subsidies, which significantly lower the monthly premiums that enrollees pay.”
She then adds, “In 2021, the American Rescue Plan introduced a program of enhanced health insurance subsidies which lowered premiums for every enrollee, and capped premiums at 8.6% of income.”
She continues that if Congress chooses not to extend the subsidies, which will expire in 2025, then “millions of Americans can expect a steep increase in how much they’ll pay for health insurance in 2026 and beyond.”
Cost increases outpace economy
The report by KFF is titled “How does medical inflation compare to inflation in the rest of the economy?”
The introduction reads, “Medical care prices and overall health spending typically outpace growth in the rest of the economy. Health costs represent a growing share of gross domestic product and many American families have seen the costs of health services and premiums grow faster than their wages.”
The report notes that healthcare costs are increasing faster than the overall rate of inflation.
“In June 2024, medical prices grew by 3.3% from the previous year, higher than the 3.0% overall annual inflation rate,” it states. “… Since 2000, the price of medical care, including services provided as well as insurance, drugs, and medical equipment, has increased by 121.3%. In contrast, prices for all consumer goods and services rose by 86.1% in the same period.”
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle