Workers Now Pay $7,471 a Year for Family Health Coverage as Job-Based Premiums Jump 9%

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (TodayViralUSA) — Americans with health insurance through their jobs are paying sharply more for it this year, with workers’ share of family coverage costs rising 9% to an average of $7,471, according to the latest annual benchmark survey from the health research nonprofit KFF.

That increase of $621 from 2025 outpaced both wage growth and inflation, and it marks a faster climb than the 7.6% rise workers saw a year earlier. Including the portion paid by employers, the average annual premium for family coverage reached $28,303, up 5%, or $1,310.

Small-business workers hit hardest

The burden falls most heavily on employees of smaller companies. Covered workers at firms with fewer than 200 employees are contributing an average of $9,687 a year toward family coverage, $2,847 more than workers at larger firms, who pay an average of $6,840.

Workers at smaller firms also shoulder a much larger share of the overall premium for family plans, 37% compared with 25% at larger employers. Average premiums for single coverage rose 5% to $9,804, with workers contributing $1,672 of that on average.

Employers pass costs along

Facing higher projected health costs, 44% of large employers said they increased the share of premiums that workers pay, and 21% said they raised deductibles or other out-of-pocket costs for most services. The average deductible for single coverage among workers with a general annual deductible was $1,955.

“When we start to see higher use or higher prices, there are only a limited number of things employers can do” to slow premium increases, Matthew Rae, associate director of KFF’s Program on the Health Care Marketplace, told KFF Health News.

Outpacing paychecks

Over the past year, workers’ wages rose 3.7% and general inflation 2.7%, both well below the growth in what employees are paying for coverage. Over the past five years, average family premiums have climbed 28%, roughly in line with wages and slightly ahead of inflation.

Employer-sponsored insurance covers almost 157 million Americans under age 65, making it the country’s largest source of health coverage. The 2026 survey, the 28th in the series, is based on interviews with 1,937 public and private employers with 10 or more workers.