Family Health Insurance Premiums Are Nearing $7,500 a Year, With Another Increase on the Way

• Employees enrolled in family health plans paid $7,471 in premiums in 2026, up 9% from 2025.

• Premiums are even steeper at smaller companies, where workers are paying close to $10,000 for family coverage.

• Premium growth has outpaced wage gains, and costs are expected to rise again in 2027.

Family health coverage is now costing households nearly $7,500 a year, and another increase is likely ahead.

A KFF health benefits survey found that workers with family coverage paid an average of $7,471 in premiums in 2026, a 9% jump from 2025. That figure reflects only the worker share. Including employer contributions, total family-plan premiums reached $28,303 in 2026, up roughly 5% from the prior year.

The burden is even heavier for employees at smaller businesses. KFF said workers at firms with fewer than 200 employees paid nearly $10,000 toward family premiums in 2026. Smaller employers often have less leverage with insurers than larger companies do.

Rising medical costs may also help explain why many consumers remain pessimistic. Wages rose 3.7% year over year, which would normally look like a solid gain, but employee-paid premiums climbed faster, increasing by 9%.

Over the past several years, premium payments have taken a larger slice of household income. Across all firms, workers' premium costs came to nearly 8% of real median household income in 2025.

Are you concerned about higher health insurance costs, or already paying thousands out of pocket? Share your story with this reporter at [email protected].

Employers and workers are heading into open enrollment with more price pressure ahead. A PricewaterhouseCoopers analysis based on a survey of health plan actuaries projects that commercial healthcare group costs will rise by 9% in 2027. Aon, an insurance management firm, similarly estimates that employer healthcare costs will climb by 9.5% next year without any cost-mitigation steps, before companies decide how much of that increase to shift to workers.

That leaves both sides facing a tougher financial strain. Employers are spending more to cover workers, but those costs are still likely rising faster than pay. At the same time, rising care expenses could limit companies' ability to raise wages. The result is higher costs for everyone, with little relief in sight. An Ipsos/Axios poll found that 69% of Americans said a 10% increase would hurt their household finances, while 30% said it would have a major negative effect.