US workers’ health insurance costs to soar amid affordability crisis, survey says

The majority of American companies expect to charge more for employee health insurance plans in 2027, according to a new survey.

Two-thirds of large U.S. businesses said they plan to raise monthly premiums for employee health coverage through paycheck deductions in 2027, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing data from a Mercer survey of employers. Forty-eight percent of companies said they will also increase deductibles and copays, likely raising employees’ out-of-pocket healthcare costs.

U.S. health insurers are hiking up costs for employers as well, as the cost of group plans is on track to rise by more than 6% for the fourth year in a row, Bloomberg reported. Annual increases were previously roughly 3% for over a decade.

“Employers are under intense pressure to manage another year of elevated health benefit cost growth, but they also know that affordability matters,” U.S. Health Leader at Mercer Simon Camaj told Bloomberg.

Companies project to pay over $18,500 for healthcare benefits for each individual employee, according to the survey. This marks a 6.7% rise from 2025 and the largest increase in 15 years.

The survey comes as rising healthcare costs have been putting pressure on Americans’ pocketbooks. Several experts toldthe Daily Caller News Foundation that surging healthcare costs are straining Main Street businesses’ finances, forcing some to cut bonuses, scale back hiring and conduct layoffs.

Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage hit $26,993 in 2025, marking a 6% increase from 2024, according to a KFF survey. The survey also found that employees contributed $6,850 toward the cost of family coverage on average.

“Year after year, middle-class families are seeing their health insurance premiums rise because of Obamacare, a system that has been in crisis since day one,” Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott claimed in a Dec. 12, 2025 X post.

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