Family Health Insurance Premiums at Work Rose About 5% in 2026, Survey Finds
Premiums for family health insurance through an employer rose about 5% in 2026, according to KFF's annual Employer Health Benefits Survey, released Thursday. KFF is a health research organization that has run the survey since 1999 among private and non-federal public employers with three or more workers.
The total average premium for employer-sponsored family coverage was $28,303 in 2026, including the share paid by employers. Workers paid an average of $7,471 of that amount, KFF said, an increase of $621 from 2025. NPR reported that the average family premium is about $28,000 and that workers pay about $7,000 a year on average, with employers paying the rest.
The survey is based on responses from nearly 2,000 employers about their health benefits. NPR reported that the roughly 5% rise in family premiums was about on par with worker wages and inflation. The portion of premium costs paid by workers grew 9%.
About 157 million Americans get health insurance through their jobs. NPR reported that about 43% of workers with health benefits said they did not get health care in the past year because of cost. It also reported that about 31% of workers with health benefits said they had medical debt.
The 2026 survey also covers deductibles, the rate at which employers offer coverage, and employer practices. It includes employers' experiences with coverage for GLP-1 drugs and for in vitro fertilization, known as IVF.
Earlier figures put the increases in context. KFF's 2025 survey found that family premiums reached $26,993 in 2025, 6% higher than in 2024, and that workers contributed an average of $6,850 toward them. Separately, the Commonwealth Fund, a health research foundation, reported in September 2025 that the median proposed premium increase for individual health insurance in 2026 was 18% nationally. That was more than twice the increase insurers had proposed for 2025. In October 2025, the Commonwealth Fund projected that nearly 5 million people could lose health insurance coverage in 2026.
The Commonwealth Fund also published a 2026 analysis, "Is Employer Coverage Affordable? How the States Stack Up," and a biennial survey called "The State of Health Insurance Coverage in 2026."
