Nearly 153 million Americans rely on employer-sponsored health coverage, and costs are on the rise for both workers and employers.
KFF published findings from its 25th annual Employer Health Benefits Survey on Oct. 18, which showed family premiums for employer-sponsored health coverage reached an average of nearly $24,000 this year, up 7% from 2022 and the highest rate increase in a decade. Average annual premiums for individual coverage also increased by 7% to $8,435.
"We've had this period of super-high inflation and now premiums are catching up," Matthew Rae, co-author on the report and associate director of KFF's healthcare marketplace program, told USA Today.
The findings are based on KFF's survey of more than 2,100 public and private firms from January to July.
Four more findings:
- This year, workers on average contributed $6,575 toward the cost of family coverage, up nearly $500 from last year. Employers covered the rest.
- Nearly a quarter of employers surveyed indicated they will increase workers' premium contributions in the next two years.
- Relative to the 7% increase in average premiums, employee wages grew about 5.2%, and inflation grew 5.8%.
- In 2023, the average deductible amount is $1,375, about the same as last year.
Researchers called the 7% increase in annual premiums a "big change compared to last year, when there was not a statistically significant increase from the year prior, and suggests that the higher overall prices we have seen since 2022 in the rest of the economy have begun to affect premiums."
Access the full KFF survey findings here.