The ‘quiet alarm bell’ on U.S. health costs: Employers are backed into a corner, and workers are paying the price

U.S. employers and workers are being squeezed by the steepest run-up in health insurance costs in years, with average family premiums nearing $26,993 in 2025 and pressure building for even sharper increases in 2026, according to a recent KFF survey. The near-term outlook points to renewed cost shifting to employees, tighter coverage for pricey drugs like GLP‑1s, and a louder policy debate over price growth—without an obvious, scalable fix in sight. The new premium reality KFF, a health research group, r ...