Don’t just renew
Anthem Blue Cross small business plans in California: 2027 rates are up 10.9%
If your company has Anthem Blue Cross and renews in January, plan on paying about 11% more. Anthem has raised California small business rates by 9% to 12% every quarter since April 2025.
The short version
- Anthem’s average increase for small business plans renewing January through March 2027 is 10.9%.
- HMO plans are going up 12.8% on average, and PPO plans 10.6%.
- After renewal, Anthem’s small business plans average about $890 a month for each person covered.
- Most of the increase comes from 2025 claims that ran higher than Anthem had planned for.
How much is Anthem raising small business rates?
Every quarter, Anthem tells California’s Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC), the state agency that oversees health plans, how much it plans to raise rates for small businesses renewing over the next three months. In California, a small business plan covers a company with 1 to 100 employees. Anthem’s filings list about 573,000 people on these plans.
| Renewal date | Anthem Blue Cross |
|---|---|
| January 2025 | 7.9% |
| April 2025 | 9.3% |
| July 2025 | 9.2% |
| October 2025 | 9.9% |
| January 2026 | 10.5% |
| April 2026 | 10.6% |
| July 2026 | 11.7% |
| October 2026 | 11.2% |
| January 2027 | 10.9% |
Source: DMHC rate filings, checked November 2, 2026. See the January 2027 filing.
The January 2027 number is what Anthem filed. The state hasn’t posted a final number yet, but in every earlier quarter the final number matched the filing.
The federal rate review site shows a lower figure for the same filing, 6.7%. That’s the average change in Anthem’s plan prices. The 10.9% is the average increase for the companies renewing this quarter, and it’s the number California publishes.
What Anthem small business plans cost in 2027
Anthem’s filing also shows the average monthly premium for companies renewing in early 2027, per person covered. That counts employees and any family members on the plan, and it’s the full premium before you split it with your employees.
| Plan type | Average increase | Average monthly premium per person |
|---|---|---|
| HMO | 12.8% | $737 |
| PPO | 10.6% | $920 |
| All plans | 10.9% | $890 |
Source: rate filing workbook attached to Anthem’s January 2027 DMHC filing. Premiums are averages across ages and regions.
An HMO keeps you in a set network of doctors and usually needs a referral to see a specialist. A PPO lets people see doctors outside the network, for a higher cost. Anthem’s HMOs cost less per person, but this year they’re going up faster.
Your own increase depends on your plan, your employees’ ages, and where your company is located. Anthem’s rate justification shows individual plans changing anywhere from 2.9% lower to 17.9% higher, and Anthem expects most people to see less than 15%.
Why is Anthem raising rates?
Anthem paid more in claims in 2025 than it had planned for, and that’s most of the increase. Its filing splits the 10.9% into parts. The 2025 claims account for 7.7 points. Shifts in which plans people are enrolled in add 1.3 points. Administrative costs add about 1 point, and so does risk adjustment, a federal program that moves money between insurers based on how healthy their members are.
The filing projects costs rising about 8.7% a year. Prescription drugs are climbing fastest, about 10.5% a year, and they were about a quarter of the cost of care for Anthem’s small business members in 2025. Hospitals are a big part of it too: Anthem’s costs for outpatient hospital care ran about 2.7 times what Medicare pays for the same services, and inpatient care about 2.2 times.
Anthem’s parent company, Elevance Health, told investors on its October 21 earnings call that it priced its employer plans for 2026 and 2027 expecting costs to grow at a low double-digit rate. The comment was about Elevance’s employer plans nationwide.
How Anthem compares with other California insurers
Anthem’s January increase is lower than most of the seven plans DMHC counts as statewide.
| Statewide plan | Filed increase |
|---|---|
| UHC of California | 22.6% |
| UnitedHealthcare Benefits Plan of California | 21.0% |
| Health Net (leaving the employer market) | 14.8% |
| Blue Shield of California | 13.9% |
| Anthem Blue Cross | 10.9% |
| Aetna Health of California | 7.6% |
| Kaiser Permanente | 5.6% |
Source: DMHC rate filings, checked November 2, 2026. Kaiser’s figure is for non-grandfathered plans. Plans regulated by the California Department of Insurance aren’t in this data.
We’ve also written up the 2027 rates for Blue Shield of California and UnitedHealthcare. Across the country, the median small business increase insurers asked for in 2027 is 14%, according to KFF.
What to do before you renew
- Find your renewal notice. California requires at least 60 days’ notice of a rate change, so a company renewing January 1 should have one by now.
- Check whether your plan is an HMO or a PPO. Anthem’s HMOs are going up about two points more than its PPOs this year.
- Start early. Health Net is leaving California’s employer market, with coverage ending February 28, 2027, so a lot of companies are shopping at the same time.
- Get a second opinion before you sign. An independent employee benefits advisor, often called a benefits broker, can price your plan against other insurers and other ways to fund coverage, and Anthem may still come out ahead.
Don’t Just Renew is not associated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Anthem Blue Cross or Elevance Health. Anthem Blue Cross is a trademark of its owner, and we use the name only to report public rate data. This article is general information, not insurance advice. Figures are current as of November 2, 2026.