Private Insurance

Employer sponsored health insurance

Workers Now Pay $7,471 on Average Annually for Family Health Coverage, Up 9% or $621 from 2025

Workers are paying on average $7,471 annually toward the premiums for employer-sponsored family health benefits in 2026, which is up 9%, or $621, from 2025. Including the employers’ share, total annual premiums for family coverage now average $28,303, up 5% from 2025. This benchmark annual survey also captures trends in deductibles, offer rates, and employer practices, and employers' experiences with GLP-1 and IVF coverage and understanding costs and utilization.

Video: What Do We Get for the Cut Health Insurers Take?

Promotional image for KFF video The True Cost of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance

Video: What Your Employer-Based Health Coverage Really Costs

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Hospital Prices Have Risen Much Faster for Private Insurance Than Medicare Since 2019

This brief compares the prices paid by private insurers for hospital care to increases in Medicare payment using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Producer Price Index (PPI), finding that hospital prices have risen much faster for private insurance than Medicare since 2019.

What Are the Recent Trends in Employer-Based Health Coverage?

Employer-sponsored health insurance is the largest source of health coverage for people under 65. This analysis examines who among people under 65 have employer coverage and which workers are offered and eligible for coverage at their jobs, using the Annual Economic and Social (March) Supplements of the Current Population Survey.