The average annual premium for employer-sponsored family health insurance has reached about $28,000, a burden that keeps growing even for workers whose employers offer strong benefits, according to a survey released Thursday, Oct. 22. Workers pay about $7,000 of that average premium, with employers covering the rest, the KFF survey of nearly 2,000 employers found. Family premiums rose 5% this year, roughly in line with wage growth and inflation. But the portion paid by workers increased 9% — a shift that could put further pressure on household budgets. “A 5% increase on a big number is still a lot of money,” said Matthew Rae, an associate director at KFF’s Health Care Marketplace Program. He described the average family premium as roughly the price of a new car each year. Premiums are only part of the bill. Joseph Babbitt, a 60-year-old financial controller in Springfield, Missouri, works for a company that covers most or all of employees’ monthly premiums. Yet he said deductibles — the amount patients pay before insurance begins covering many services — can still be painful. He recalled deductibles of $250 or $500 in the 1990s; now, he said, his deductible is $5,000. A separate Commonwealth Fund survey released Thursday found that about 43% of insured workers said they had gone without health care because of the cost in the past year, while 31% reported medical debt, said Sara Collins, the study’s lead author. The report also found the nation’s uninsured rate increased over the past two years. Collins pointed to the expiration of expanded federal subsidies for Affordable Care Act coverage and people losing Medicaid after the pandemic emergency ended. Federal data show millions have already lost coverage through Medicaid or ACA marketplaces; additional Medicaid losses are projected when work requirements take effect next year. The figures highlight a stubborn affordability problem: having insurance through a job does not guarantee that care is affordable when someone needs it. KFF’s Rae cautioned that continued growth in workers’ premium contributions could make coverage harder to manage, even as overall premium increases remain moderate.