Jacob McDonald knows he’s lucky to have a good health insurance plan through his employer, a tech company. But when his company started to send out emails recently updating employees about their options for health care in 2026 through open enrollment, he was disappointed to learn that once again, costs were going up.

To cover his family of four, McDonald, 47, a network engineer based in Dallas, Texas, is being asked to pay 6.5% more than he did last year towards health insurance. His $3,300 deductible, which he’s met every year since one of his children has a chronic health condition, is also going up next year by $100.

“I expected to pay more, but this is the largest increase I can remember,” he says.

He’s not wrong. Ballooning health care costs are driving up the price of employer-spo

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