Covered California on Tuesday said insurance rates will jump an average of 12.5 percent for next year, amid uncertainty about the future of Obamacare.

“Californians are paying about 3 percent more than they would have if not for the uncertainty,” said Peter Lee, executive director of the state’s exchange.

Jennifer Jacobs, 39, of Buena Park buys Anthem Blue Cross insurance through Covered California, the state’s Obamacare exchange. “I was one of the lucky ones that got to keep my doctors. Now If Anthem Blue Cross is pulling out I’m afraid my doctor for the last 30 years won’t accept a new Obamacare plan,” she said on Tuesday, August 1, 2017. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jennifer Jacobs, 39, of Buena Park, with her dog Buddy, buys Anthem Blue Cross insurance through Covered California, the state’s Obamacare exchange. “I was one of the lucky ones that got to keep my doctors. Now If Anthem Blue Cross is pulling out I’m afraid my doctor for the last 30 years won’t accept a new Obama care plan,” she said on Tuesday, August 1, 2017. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Sound The gallery will resume in seconds

Jennifer Jacobs, 39, of Buena Park buys Anthem Blue Cross insurance through Covered California, the state’s Obamacare exchange. “I was one of the lucky ones that got to keep my doctors. Now If Anthem Blue Cross is pulling out I’m afraid my doctor for the last 30 years won’t accept a new Obama care plan,” she said on Tuesday, August 1, 2017. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jennifer Jacobs, 39, of Buena Park buys Anthem Blue Cross insurance through Covered California, the state’s Obamacare exchange. “I was one of the lucky ones that got to keep my doctors. Now If Anthem Blue Cross is pulling out I’m afraid my doctor for the last 30 years won’t accept a new Obama care plan,” she said on Tuesday, August 1, 2017. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jennifer Jacobs, 39, of Buena Park buys Anthem Blue Cross insurance through Covered California, the state’s Obamacare exchange. “I was one of the lucky ones that got to keep my doctors. Now If Anthem Blue Cross is pulling out I’m afraid my doctor for the last 30 years won’t accept a new Obamacare plan,” she said on Tuesday, August 1, 2017. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)



Additionally, Anthem Blue Cross will stop selling individual health plans in the Southern California market even as it continues to sell plans in parts of Northern and Central California.

“The uncertainty is also having an impact on plan participation,” Lee said. “It’s significant. About 153,000 of (Anthem Blue Cross) consumers will need to shop and change into 2018.”

Related: Here’s what you need to know about the Covered California rate hike

Last year, rates increased an average of 13 percent statewide, a bigger jump than in 2015. This year, insurance companies were left in the dark as lawmakers pushed a bid to repeal Obamacare to the last possible minute before voting against such a move. It remains uncertain if the Trump administration will make monthly payments that allow insurers to reduce co-pays and deductibles for low-income consumers as required by the Affordable Care Act. Later this month, Covered California will decide whether to attach an average 12.4 percent surcharge to the silver-tier plans that offer the reduced out-of-pocket costs for about 650,000 Californians.

Roughly 551,510 people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties purchase subsidized plans through Covered California.

Covered California announced average rate increases of 4 percent in 2015 and 4.2 percent in 2014.