Pennie customers face 17% increase in 2027

July 30, 2026

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Good afternoon everyone.

It’s Thursday, July 30, and welcome back to another edition of the Keystone Labor Report. You can find Tuesday’s edition here.

Something that is making the rounds in my group chats is this segment that aired on NPR about Democrats focusing too much on preserving “democracy” while not addressing the needs of the working class.

This is giving me flashbacks to when I was standing on the press risers watching former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigning with former US Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wis.) and other Republicans talking about preserving democracy over an economic populist message in the final weeks of the 2024 election.

Sean Kitchen

Political Correspondent, The Keystone

(Sean Kitchen / The Keystone)

With more than 177,000 Pennsylvanians dropping their healthcare coverage through Pennie, the state’s healthcare marketplace, once federal subsidies expired at the end of last year, Pennie customers are facing a 17% to 40% premium increase.

Advocates delivered a petition with over 600 signatures to the Pennsylvania Insurance Department on Wednesday asking the agency to reject the proposed rate increase.

“The proposed 17.1% average increase in monthly premiums for 2027 Pennie health insurance plans would place an unacceptable burden on Pennsylvania families,” Antoinette Kraus, executive director of the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, said in a statement.

“Pennie enrollees, including small business owners, gig workers, restaurant servers, child care teachers, home care workers, retail employees, and many others who do not have access to employer-sponsored health insurance, are facing double-digit premium increases while the cost of everyday necessities continues to rise.”

US Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) came out in support of US Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), on Wednesday, calling him a “very good” member of the Senate Democratic Caucus as Republicans try to woo Fetterman into switching parties, per The Hill.
Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.) has committed to returning a $2,600 campaign donation from convicted fraudster Adam Kidan. Mackenzie received the donation days after Kidan’s pardon, per The Morning Call.
Pennsylvania saw one of its worst measles outbreaks last week after the disease was supposed to be eliminated 26 years ago, per Pennlive.

(Sean Kitchen / The Keystone)

Bob Brooks’ campaign is once again accusing the Republican Party of meddling in the race for the 7th Congressional District after a Republican turned Green Party member submitted petitions to get on the ballot without the support of the party itself.

Punchbowl News is reporting that petitioners collecting signatures to get Andrew Tupone on the fall ballot were being paid as much as $30 an hour, but they didn’t disclose who was paying them.

Republicans spent $1.7 million during the primary to try and dissuade voters from supporting Brooks.

“It is clear that Republicans and their corporate donors are scared of Bob Brooks because they don’t want a working class Pennsylvanian in the halls of Congress, and they know they can’t beat him fair and square after voting to unleash higher prices on Lehigh Valley families,” Jenna Kaufman, Brooks’ campaign manager, said in a statement.