SPOTLIGHT: Workers brace for higher health costs in 2027
October 2026
Workers are stretched thin. Roughly six in 10 adults say they’re worried about affording care, and wages rose just 3.7% this year. Their health costs jumped anyway, with workers paying 9% more toward family coverage in 2026. Open enrollment is when m
Brought to you by the
About 157 million Americans under 65 get health insurance through an employer. Their plans cost more this year, and workers paid a bigger piece of the increase.
The average family plan now costs $28,303 a year, up 5%, according to KFF’s annual employer survey.
Workers pay an average of $7,471 of that for family coverage, up 9%, while wages rose 3.7% and inflation 2.7%.
Over five years, family premiums are up about 28%, close to the increases in wages (27%) and inflation (24%).
Read more via KFF, The New York Times
Company size makes a big difference.
Workers at small firms (fewer than 200 workers) pay an average of $9,687 a year for family coverage, which is $2,847 more than workers at larger firms.
They also pay 37% of the family premium, compared with 25% at larger firms.
The average deductible, the amount workers pay before insurance kicks in, is $2,624 at small firms and $1,772 at larger firms.
Read more via KFF, KFF full report
Aon and Marsh, two large benefits consulting firms, both expect big increases next year. Aon’s number is before employers make changes, and Marsh’s is after.
Aon projects employer health costs will rise 9.5% in 2027 before any cost-cutting changes.
Marsh projects 8.2% even after planned changes, the highest since 2003. Employers told Marsh costs would hit 11% if they did nothing.
Marsh’s actuaries say GLP-1 weight loss drugs add about a percentage point. AI software that helps doctors submit claims and a surge in payment disputes between insurers and providers could each add as much as a point.
KFF says early forecasts for 2026 also ran high, and how 2027 forecasts turn into real premiums remains to be seen.
Read more via Aon, Marsh, KFF full report
Raising the worker share of premiums was the most common move among large employers this year.
Among firms with 200 or more workers, 44% raised the share of the premium workers pay and 21% raised deductibles or other cost sharing.
Marsh found 59% of employers plan cost-cutting changes for 2027, such as higher deductibles, and about two-thirds of large employers expect to raise workers’ share of premiums.
29% of large firms offering spousal coverage restrict it or add a surcharge when the spouse has other coverage, up from 22% in 2022. Disney is dropping coverage for working spouses who have their own.
Among large firms that don’t cover GLP-1s for weight loss, 12% stopped within the past year. Overall coverage is steady at 18%.
Employers are paying the equivalent of buying an economy car for each employee who has family health insurance coverage, and in 2026 they offloaded more of that cost to workers.”
Read more via KFF full report, Marsh, Axios, The New York Times
The Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit research group, surveyed 9,360 adults on how costs affect their care.
Half said they delayed or skipped care because of the cost, up from 46% in 2022.
About a third of adults with individual or employer coverage are paying off medical bills or medical debt.
Elliot Rosenblum of Symphony Consulting, which works with midsize employers, says more workers may go without coverage as costs rise, particularly in lower-wage industries like retail.
Read more via The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal
Open enrollment is when most workers see the new numbers. Benefits experts say how employers explain them matters more this year.
OneDigital research found only 54% of employees report a high understanding of their health insurance.
Employees tend to focus on what comes out of their paycheck and miss the employer’s share. Total compensation statements show the full value of employer-paid benefits.
Workers pay about 27% of the family premium on average, and employers cover the rest.
Collective Health starts enrollment messaging weeks early through town halls, Slack, email and mailers to employees’ homes.
Employers should explain what they are doing to manage costs and what they still contribute, not just announce a higher deductible.
When open enrollment starts, most people will see their out-of-paycheck costs and probably their out-of-pocket costs going up.”
Read more via SHRM, KFF Health News, KFF
