Every year the Kaiser Family Foundation releases a report on the cost of employer-sponsored health insurance and other aspects of employer health plans. Around 157 million Americans are covered by these plans. In recent years the reports have been depressing in the size of the premium increases, which put immense stress on working families and which could be avoided if Congress had any courage to take on the outrageous prices being charged by providers and drug companies. It is a long report so I will have to cover it in several posts. (KFF Report)
2026 is no exception to the cost trends, as the headline numbers were $28,303 annual premium for a family of four on average, up 5% from last year, and $9804 for a single person, also up 5%. By comparison, general inflation was 2.7% and wages rose 3.7%. So more of a family’s income is going to health insurance. Of that family premium total, the families are being asked to pay $7471, a 9% increase from 2025. And copayments and deductibles are increasing, causing even greater financial stress.
For smaller firms, those with less than 200 employees, premiums were about the same as for larger firms, indicating that company size doesn’t help lower the cost of health insurance. Plans that included a health spending account had slightly lower premiums. Plans with a preferred provider design had slightly higher premiums, likely because out-of-network providers charge much higher prices. The Northeast had the highest premiums while the South had the lowest. Not-for-profit organizations have much higher premiums than do for-profit companies. Having a greater percent of older workers is obviously associated with higher premiums, as older people tend to have more health needs. And firms with more highly-paid employees also have higher premiums.
