Family health plans at work now cost $28,303. Workers' share jumped 9% in a year.
Workers pay $7,471 on average, KFF finds, while wages rose 3.7% and inflation 2.7%.
If you cover your family through your job, your share of the bill went up about $621 this year. Your paycheck did not keep pace.
That's the headline finding of KFF's 2026 Employer Health Benefits Survey, released Oct. 22. KFF, a nonprofit health policy research group, found workers now pay an average of $7,471 a year toward family coverage, up 9% from 2025. Over the same stretch, wages rose 3.7% and inflation ran 2.7%, by KFF's measures.
The total price of a family plan, counting what employers pay, averages $28,303, up 5%. Single coverage averages $9,804, also up 5%. Job-based insurance covers almost 157 million people under 65, so these numbers land on a big share of American households.
Your share grew faster than the bill
The total premium rose 5%, but the worker's portion rose 9%, more than twice as fast as pay. STAT reported the jump is larger than the 6% and 7% increases KFF recorded in recent years.
Over five years, family premiums climbed 28%, outrunning both wages (26.9%) and inflation (24.4%), according to KFF. For a worker already squeezed by prices rising faster than paychecks, that's money that never reaches the grocery budget.
On average, workers still pay about 27% of the family premium and 18% of the single premium, shares KFF called similar to last year. But a growing number of employers are pushing more onto workers. Among large firms that responded to projected cost increases, the most common step was raising the share of premiums workers pay (44%), followed by raising deductibles or other cost sharing for most services (21%). Across all firms, 18% raised workers' premium share, including 66% of employers with 5,000 or more employees, KFF found.
Small-business workers pay the most
The heaviest burden falls on people at small companies. Workers at firms with 10 to 199 employees pay an average of $9,687 a year for family coverage, 37% of the premium. At larger firms, workers pay $6,840, or 25%.
The gap goes deeper. KFF found 32% of covered workers at small firms must pay more than half the family premium themselves, compared with 6% at large firms. Small employers are more generous with single coverage, though: 29% of their covered workers pay nothing toward a single plan, versus 5% at large firms. So a small-business worker may pay little or nothing to cover themselves, then face a much bigger bill once they add a spouse or kids.
Deductibles keep climbing
Premiums are only what you pay to have insurance. The deductible is what you pay out of pocket before the plan starts covering most care. The average single-coverage deductible is now $1,955, and 38% of covered workers face a single deductible of $2,000 or more.
At small firms, it's 55%, more than half. At larger firms, it's 33%.
What this means for you
Many employers hold open enrollment this fall, and it's usually your one chance a year to change plans without a qualifying life event, like a birth or marriage. Find your deadline with HR and don't let your plan roll over by default.
When you compare options, add up the full cost: your yearly premium plus the deductible you'd likely hit. A plan with a cheaper paycheck deduction can cost more by December if one hospital visit puts you through a $2,000-plus deductible.
For a step-by-step checklist, read our guide: Employers expect 8.2% higher health costs in 2027. Check your plan before you pay.
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