| Chart of the Day |
| OCTOBER 27, 2026 |
COST OF LIVING • HEALTHCARE |
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| A Family Health Plan Costs $28,303 This Year. In 2000, It Was $6,438. |
| Your premiums grew three times faster than your paycheck... for 26 years straight. |
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| Average annual employer-sponsored family health insurance premium, in nominal dollars. |
| Source: Kaiser Family Foundation Employer Health Benefits Survey, 2026 |
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| Open enrollment season just kicked off across the country. If your kids or grandkids called this month grumbling about their benefits package, there’s a number behind it. The Kaiser Family Foundation released its annual employer survey last week. The average family health insurance premium in 2026 is $28,303. In the year 2000, it was $6,438. |
| Everyone knows health insurance costs more than it used to. That’s old news. But most people don’t realize how badly premiums have outrun paychecks. Over those same 26 years, median household income went from about $40,500 to $87,300. That’s a 115% increase. Premiums? Up 340%. Three times faster... for a quarter century. |
| Put it another way. In 2000, a family health plan cost about 15 cents of every dollar a median household earned. Today it costs 32 cents. The share doubled. And the worker’s piece alone, the part that comes straight out of the paycheck, hit $7,471 this year. Up 9% in just twelve months. That’s $623 a month... before you’ve seen a doctor or filled a single prescription. |
| If you’re on Medicare and think this doesn’t touch you, think again. Employer premiums set the floor for the whole system. When private plans pay hospitals and drug makers more, Medicare benchmarks shift. Supplement pricing follows. It all rolls downhill to you. |
