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.

new and noteworthy

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.

Stay informed.

Stay informed.

Filter

341-350 of 914 results

  • Free Coronavirus Testing for Privately Insured Patients?

    Policy Watch

    While privately insured people are eligible to have the cost of coronavirus testing covered 100% by their health plan, that doesn't mean that insured patients won’t be asked to pay up front for the cost of testing or that they can easily be reimbursed.

  • Coronavirus Response and the Affordable Care Act

    Policy Watch

    This post examines the Affordable Care Act's impact 10 years after its enactment and how its provisions, especially those that expand coverage opportunities, could address the health threat and economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

  • Coronavirus Response and the Affordable Care Act

    Issue Brief

    This post examines the Affordable Care Act's impact 10 years after its enactment and how its provisions, especially those that expand coverage opportunities, could address the health threat and economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

  • Private Health Coverage of COVID-19: Key Facts and Issues

    Issue Brief

    New federal legislation will require most private health plans to cover testing for the coronavirus with no cost sharing. Some states have adopted similar requirements for insurers they regulate, and many private insurance companies will voluntarily expand coverage for testing. However, some private coverage will not be subject to these requirements. To date, fewer changes have been adopted or considered with respect to treatment for complications from the disease. This brief reviews current coverage standards…

  • Potential Costs of Coronavirus Treatment for People with Employer Coverage

    Issue Brief

    As COVID-19 spreads within the United States, questions have arisen over the potential costs people may face if they become severely ill and need treatment. While many large insurers have agreed to waive copayments and deductibles for COVID-19 tests, people with private insurance who face deductibles could still be on the hook for large treatment costs. A new brief examines the potential cost of COVID-19 treatment to employer health plans and their enrollees by looking…

  • Even Supporters May Not Understand Medicare-for-All

    From Drew Altman

    In this Axios column, Drew Altman shows that the majority of supporters don’t know how Medicare-for-all works, with both positive and negative implications for support if they knew more.