Health insurance through a job is getting more expensive again. KFF, a nonpartisan health research group, said Thursday that the average yearly premium for employer family coverage reached $28,303 in 2026, up 5% from 2025 2. Single coverage averaged $9,804 2.
About 157 million Americans get insurance through work 1. KFF surveyed 1,937 employers with ten or more workers between January and July 2026 2.
Workers are paying a bigger share
The 5% rise is roughly in line with pay and prices. KFF says worker wages rose 3.7% and inflation was 2.7% over the past year 21. But the portion that workers pay for family coverage grew faster, by 9%, or $621 2.
Workers now pay an average of $7,471 a year toward family coverage, and employers pay the rest 2. KFF's Matthew Rae said that if this is the start of a trend, it matters. Here is how he put it 1:
If this is the beginning of a shift of costs onto workers, that would be a big deal in terms of affordability
Rae also described the scale of the cost. "It's basically the cost of a new car every year just to keep a family of four insured," he said 1.
Good coverage can still be costly
Joseph Babbitt, 60, a financial controller in Springfield, Mo., has an employer that pays most or all of the monthly premium 1. He says a high deductible, the amount a patient pays before insurance starts paying, can still hurt. In the 1990s his deductibles were $250 or $500, he said. Now they are $5,000 1.
KFF puts the average deductible for single coverage at $1,955 among workers in plans that have one 2. Many plans run well above that average.
A second report out Thursday, from the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit that funds independent research, looked at what costs do to care. Among workers with job-based coverage, about 43% said they did not get care in the past year because of cost. About 31% reported medical debt, according to lead author Sara Collins 1.
Coverage losses add to the strain
The Commonwealth Fund also found the uninsured rate rose over the last two years. Collins linked that to federal decisions, including letting extra subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans expire, and to people losing Medicaid after the pandemic emergency ended 1.
Federal data show millions have already lost coverage through Medicaid or the ACA marketplaces. Millions more are projected to lose Medicaid when work requirements take effect next year 1.
Collins said there is a strong feeling that something needs to be done on both costs and coverage losses 1. The survey asked whether the federal government has a responsibility to make sure all Americans have coverage. Nearly three quarters said yes, including about 45% of Republicans, 93% of Democrats and 76% of independents 1.
That matters because the survey measures people who are considered the lucky ones. Even with a job and a plan, many Americans are skipping care or falling into debt. The reports do not say what Congress will do next. Health costs are on the table as voters choose a new Congress on November 3.
The Record
- KFF's earlier survey put 2025 average family premiums for employer coverage at about $27,000 (a 6% rise); 2026 is 5% higher than 2025 at $28,303 2.
- KFF reports the average 2026 family premium at $28,303, with workers paying $7,471, up 9% 2.
- The Commonwealth Fund report finds 43% of insured workers skipped care because of cost 1.
Sources
- NPR, “High health costs squeeze workers, even if you have good insurance through a job” (2026-10-22). npr.org/2026/10/22/nx-s1-6008153/health-insurance-costs-kff-
- KFF, “2026 Employer Health Benefits Survey” (2026-10-22). kff.org/health-costs/2026-employer-health-benefits-survey/
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