Why do health-insurance costs keep rising?

JACOB MCDONALD KNOWS HE’S LUCKY TO HAVE A GOOD health-insurance plan through his employer, a tech company. But when his company recently updated employees about their options for health care in 2026, he was disappointed to learn that once again, costs were going up.

- BY ALANA SEMUELS

To cover his family of four, McDonald, 47, a network engineer based in Dallas, is being asked to pay 6.5% more than he did last year toward health insurance. Ballooning health care costs are driving up the price of insurance for the 154 million Americans who rely on employer-sponsored coverage. Starting this month and into January, employees will be able to pick their plans for the next year during the open-enrollment process and get a sense of just how much more they’ll pay. One recent survey by Mercer found that employers expect to pay an average 6.5% more for health care for their employees in 2026, which is the highest increase since 2010. Another poll of employers by the Business Group on Health found that respondents projected health care costs to jump 7.6% in 2026, on average—the highest increase in over a decade.