Overview
- Young, healthy employees are waiving workplace insurance to cut monthly bills by roughly $1,000, turning to cheaper options or going without coverage.
- Benefits consultants warn that when low-claim workers leave, employer plans lose balance, and insurers raise rates the next year based on higher past claims.
- Many switch to short-term policies or medical cost-sharing groups, which are cheaper but can deny pre-existing conditions and often exclude mental health care, as the GAO found in 2023.
- ACA marketplace enrollment has fallen after enhanced subsidies expired, with one analysis estimating drops of up to 26% and reports of some Blue Cross plans losing 20% to 30% of customers.
- Households feel the squeeze as some premiums more than double, more buyers shift to bronze plans with deductibles up to $10,600, Mercer sees 2026 costs rising 6.5%, and the CBO projects 14 million more uninsured by 2034.