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https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/20/insurance-premiums-employer-increase-affordability-00660176
Rising Obamacare premiums are a political problem for Republicans. Rising premiums for workers who get health insurance from their employers could be an even bigger one.
Republicans in Congress are focused on finding a way to counteract an expected 26 percent rise in premiums for people who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act, without extending government subsidies that make insurance more affordable.
What the GOP isn’t talking about: Nearly seven times as many Americans get health insurance through an employer as those who buy it individually. Those 165 million people are expected to see their premiums spike by up to 7 percent.
“That’s going to absolutely put pressure on whoever’s [in power],” said Katherine Hempstead, senior policy adviser at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a health care-focused philanthropy.
Voters have started making it clear that affordability of basic necessities — including health care — will be a defining issue in determining who holds the balance of power in Congress after next year’s midterm elections. That means the GOP may need to look beyond fixing Affordable Care Act subsidies to maintain control of the House and Senate.
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers and candidates say they plan to make affordability their top issue in next year’s midterm elections, but it remains to be seen whether they’ll include the plight of workers with employer-provided insurance in their push.
People with group coverage are expected to see an average 6 to 7 percent premium increase this month as they re-enroll in coverage that will start in January.
That comes as their employers are expecting the largest jump in health costs in 15 years in 2026, at 6.7 percent, more than double the rate of inflation and the typical pay raise workers are getting.
Rising Obamacare premiums are a political problem for Republicans. Rising premiums for workers who get health insurance from their employers could be an even bigger one.
Republicans in Congress are focused on finding a way to counteract an expected 26 percent rise in premiums for people who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act, without extending government subsidies that make insurance more affordable.
What the GOP isn’t talking about: Nearly seven times as many Americans get health insurance through an employer as those who buy it individually. Those 165 million people are expected to see their premiums spike by up to 7 percent.
“That’s going to absolutely put pressure on whoever’s [in power],” said Katherine Hempstead, senior policy adviser at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a health care-focused philanthropy.
Voters have started making it clear that affordability of basic necessities — including health care — will be a defining issue in determining who holds the balance of power in Congress after next year’s midterm elections. That means the GOP may need to look beyond fixing Affordable Care Act subsidies to maintain control of the House and Senate.
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers and candidates say they plan to make affordability their top issue in next year’s midterm elections, but it remains to be seen whether they’ll include the plight of workers with employer-provided insurance in their push.
People with group coverage are expected to see an average 6 to 7 percent premium increase this month as they re-enroll in coverage that will start in January.
That comes as their employers are expecting the largest jump in health costs in 15 years in 2026, at 6.7 percent, more than double the rate of inflation and the typical pay raise workers are getting.
