WKYT reports premiums will rise as much as 47 percent in 2017 for Kentuckians on insurance through the state’s health exchange. The increase was approved by the Kentucky Department of Insurance, which was requested by insurance companies selling individual and small group health benefit plans in Kentucky. H. Brian Maynard of the Department of Insurance said each request was reviewed carefully to comply with Kentucky law. The department blames the increases on “national trends, market forces, an aging population, and the general instability in the state health insurance market by Obamacare.