Daniel Wilson and his wife Paige Wilson joined a health share cooperative and waived their employer-sponsored health insurance due to a high price tag and high deductibles for they family of five.
Photographer: Sylvia Jarrus/BloombergHealthy Workers Are Ditching Company Insurance to Save $1,000 a Month
The very people that employers rely on to pay into plans and keep them afloat are starting to opt out due to soaring costs.
A salaried job with health benefits has long been considered the gold standard of employment in the US. But now, as sharply rising healthcare premiums eat into workers’ pay, young, healthy professionals are rejecting employer-sponsored insurance. Instead, they’re going without coverage or finding cheaper options, saying they can’t afford to be on the company plan.
Jessica Balcerzak, a 33-year-old nurse who works for a hospital in Buffalo, New York, decided to waive her employer’s insurance in 2025. Her job covered 55% of the plan’s premiums, deducting $585 every two weeks for insurance for herself, her self-employed husband and their three kids. Balcerzak said that $15,000 in annual wages would be better used in the family’s high yield savings account or paying down debt.