Job-Based Health Plan Costs Rise, With Little Relief in Sight

Rising healthcare costs aren’t a problem just for those who buy their own health insurance. Increases hit employers and their workers this year, too, and more are expected for 2027 plans — adding to growing concerns about affordability heading into the midterm elections. Polls show that healthcare costs — and affordability, in general — are among top concerns cited by likely voters. Much attention has been focused on mounting costs and declining enrollment in Affordable Care Act plans, the insurance used by roughly 19 million people who buy their own. But work-based plans are adding financial pressure for the more than 150 million Americans covered through their jobs. One of the biggest changes this year, for instance, came in the amount workers pay toward their own coverage, rising an average of 9% to $7,471 annually for a family, according to a broad annual survey released Oct. 22 by KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. That’s up from the 7.6% jump seen from 2024 to 2025. Their employers, too, faced additional costs, with the average family coverage premium rising 5% to hit $28,303, according to the survey. In response to that increase — which comes ...