Health insurance in San Diego, where doing nothing costs the most.

San Diego County is its own region, and 2027 is hitting it harder

Region 19 is one county, with a proposed increase well above the state average.

San Diego County is large enough to be its own rating region. Its rates are not affected by Los Angeles or Orange County.

For 2027 the proposed increase here is 13.1%, against a state average of 9.9%. Only a few regions were proposed higher. Source: Covered California rate announcement, July 21, 2026. Rates are proposed and subject to review by the Department of Managed Health Care.

That makes this one of the places in California where renewing on autopilot is most expensive.

Molina is not leaving San Diego, whatever the headline said

Molina is dropping out of two Los Angeles and Orange County regions. San Diego is not one of them.

Covered California announced that Molina Healthcare will stop offering marketplace plans in Region 15 and Region 18 for 2027. Region 15 is northeast Los Angeles County. Region 18 is Orange County.

San Diego is Region 19, and it is not on that list. About 1,600 people are affected by the exit, all of them in those two regions. Source: Covered California rate announcement, July 21, 2026.

We are spelling this out because a carrier exit gets reported as statewide news and then worries people it does not apply to. If you have Molina in San Diego, your plan is not going away for that reason.

Molina did propose one of the larger increases at 16.9%, so it is still worth comparing. That is a different question from whether it is leaving.

Sharp Health Plan only exists here

Sharp is a San Diego plan. That is its strength and its limit.

Sharp Health Plan sells in San Diego County and part of southern Riverside County. It is not a statewide carrier.

For a lot of people here that is exactly what they want, because the network is built around local hospitals and medical groups. For 2027 Sharp proposed a 12.3% increase, a little under the region's 13.1% average. Source: Covered California rate announcement, July 21, 2026, Table 2. Proposed rates.

The limit is the flip side of the strength. If you spend months of the year outside San Diego, or you are planning to move, a local network is worth less to you than it looks. That is a real conversation to have before you enroll, not after.

Switching is worth about ten points here

Renew without looking and the average increase is 13.1%. Switch to the cheapest plan in your tier and it drops to 2.8%.

Covered California publishes what you would pay by moving to the lowest-cost plan at your metal level. In Region 19 that is 2.8% rather than 13.1%. Source: Covered California rate announcement, July 21, 2026, Table 1.

That is one of the bigger gaps in California, and it is the whole argument for spending an hour on this before January.

One caution worth repeating. Same metal tier means the same share of costs, not the same doctors or the same drug list. A cheaper Silver plan that drops your specialist is not a saving.

What we do for San Diego households

We check your doctors and prescriptions against every plan in Region 19 before you choose.

We are an independent agency, licensed in California for health and life insurance. Our help costs you nothing, because the carrier pays us.

In practice: we pull every plan available in your ZIP code, check your doctors and prescriptions against each one, run your expected 2027 income through the federal credit and California's own state subsidy, and show you the real monthly number. Then you pick.

We do not sell Medicare in California, and we will say so rather than take the appointment. More on the rest of the state on our California page, and the dates for 2027 in our Covered California open enrollment guide.