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Family premium For employer-sponsored health insurance That increased again in 2025, rising for the third year in a row to nearly $27,000 for a typical family plan, according to new data from the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.
average annual premium price up 6 percent this year to $26,993, up $1,408 increase Through 2024, KFF’s annual employer health benefits survey found.
The findings are based on a survey of more than 1,860 people employers Nationwide, provide the most comprehensive information on workplace health coverage in the US, the primary source for Insurance For almost half of Americans.
The steady rise in premiums is outpacing inflation and economists warn that could weigh on employment and wage growth.
“If health care costs “Growing faster than the economy in general means there’s less money left to spend on wages,” KFF senior vice president Gary Claxton said in an interview. wall street journal,
The data shows workers are paying an average of $6,850 for family coverage, about 26 percent of total premiums, while employers cover the remaining 74 percent.
Over the past five years, family premiums (26 percent) and worker contributions (23 percent) have grown at the same pace as inflation (23.5 percent) and wage growth (28.6 percent).
What is the reason for the premium increase?
KFF found that rising employer health-insurance costs are driven primarily by higher health-care spending, including rising cancer rates among workers, rising hospital prices and expensive new treatments such as GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, including Wegovi and Zepbound.
According to the data, in 2025, only one in five large employers (19 percent) cover expensive GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Wegovi, while 57 percent do not and 24 percent are unsure.
Among the largest companies (more than 5,000 employees), coverage increases from 28 percent to 43 percent in 2024. Many employers impose conditions, such as requiring patients to meet with a dietitian or participate in lifestyle programs.
The high cost of GLP-1 drugs worries employers, with 59 percent seeing more than expected and 66 percent seeing a major impact on prescription drug spending.
Rising costs may lead some employers to reduce coverage, add restrictions, or eliminate GLP-1 drug benefits. Although 44 percent of large employers say coverage is important to employees, among those that don’t currently offer it, only 1 percent expect to offer it in the next year.
“A quiet alarm bell is ringing. With increases in GLP-1, hospital prices, tariffs and other factors, we expect employer premiums to rise even more rapidly next year,” Drew Altman, KFF president and CEO, said in a statement. News release,
“Employers have nothing new in their arsenal that can address most of the drivers of their cost increases, and this could result in deductibles and other forms of employee cost sharing increasing again, a strategy that neither employers nor employees like but that companies resort to in a pinch to prevent premium increases,” he said.
What does this mean for families?
According to KFF, a larger portion of household paychecks are going toward insurance costs, and many workers may face higher deductibles, copays and other out-of-pocket expenses as employers place more of the financial burden on employees.
Increases in fixed health-benefit costs may also limit salary increases or reduce the scope of other job benefits.
For job seekers and low-wage workers, this trend may result in fewer employers offering full coverage or more restricted plan options becoming the norm.
Which companies are struggling the most?
Small employers are experiencing the largest increases in health-insurance costs. A Vistage Worldwide survey of 336 small businesses in October found that more than half reported rate increases of 10 percent or more this year.
In response, a growing number of these businesses are moving away from traditional health plans altogether.
Recent KFF data shows that fewer small businesses are providing health benefits to employees due to the increasing difficulty of maintaining coverage as costs continue to rise.