Family health coverage through work now tops $28,000 a year as workers' share jumps 9%

Keeping a family insured through a job now costs about as much each year as a new car. The average total price of family coverage at work reached $28,303 this year, according to a closely watched annual survey of employers released Thursday. The slice that workers pay out of their own checks grew far faster than the rest.

The overall family premium, which combines what the company and the employee pay, rose 5% or $1,310 from last year. Workers now chip in an average of $7,471 a year toward family plans. That figure jumped 9% or $621 in a single year.

The survey of more than 1,900 public and private employers with at least 10 workers is the 28th edition of the yearly study by a nonpartisan health research group. Close to 157 million Americans under 65 get their health insurance through a job.

Small business workers pay the most

The pinch is sharpest at smaller companies. Employees at firms with fewer than 200 workers are paying an average of $9,687 a year toward family coverage, which is $2,847 more than people with the same kind of plan at larger employers.

Big employers told researchers they are passing more of the bill to staff. Among firms with 200 or more workers, 44% said they raised the share of the premium that employees pay to deal with higher expected health costs. About one in five said they raised deductibles or other out of pocket charges for most services.

Growth looks modest on paper

There is some good news buried in the numbers. The 5% rise in total premiums is in line with the past few years and only a bit ahead of wage growth of 3.7% and general inflation of 2.7%. Over the last five years family premiums climbed 28%, close to the 27% increase in pay over the same stretch.

The researchers warned that a jump of 5% on such a large bill still adds up to real money for families. They also flagged the 9% rise in the worker share as a possible sign that companies are starting to shift more costs onto employees, something that would make coverage harder to afford if it continues.

Insured but still skipping care

A second report out Thursday from a separate health foundation showed how those costs play out. About 43% of people with job-based insurance said they went without needed care in the past year because of the price and about 31% said they carry medical debt.

That study also found the share of Americans without any insurance went up over the last two years. Its authors pointed to the end of extra federal help for people who buy plans on the health law marketplaces and to people losing Medicaid after pandemic-era protections ended. Millions more are expected to lose Medicaid once new work requirements begin next year.

The findings land less than two weeks before the midterm elections, with health costs ranking near the top of voters' worries in many polls.