Overview
- A July 21 report from the West Health–Gallup Center finds 24% of workers, roughly 23 million adults, say they remain in jobs they want to leave to keep employer-sponsored insurance.
- The share has risen eight percentage points since 2021, reflecting a growing link between job decisions and access to health benefits.
- Rates are highest for people with medical debt, multiple chronic conditions, and women, with 44% of those with hard-to-repay medical debt and 41% with three or more chronic conditions reporting job lock.
- Researchers and coverage cite several drivers that limit non-employer options, including falling affordability, large employers' premium hikes in 2026, high-cost specialty drugs and recent policy moves that reduced ACA marketplace subsidies.
- The Gallup survey was conducted Oct. 27–Dec. 22, 2025, and experts warn the trend could curb labor mobility, slow entrepreneurship and depress wage and promotion opportunities for millions of workers.