医疗研究机构凯泽家庭基金会（KFF）针对雇主资助医疗保险的最新调查发现，保费上涨了约5%。
The latest survey from health research organization KFF on employer-sponsored health insurance finds that premiums went up about 5%.
The Good Brigade/Digital Vision/Getty Images来自密苏里州斯普林菲尔德的约瑟夫·巴比特在医疗保险方面享有一份相当不错的待遇。他在西普莱恩斯兽医供应公司担任高级财务总监，该公司雇有大约50名员工，在整个地区分销宠物食品、玩具和兽医用品。
The Good Brigade/Digital Vision/Getty Images Joseph Babbitt of Springfield, Mo. has a pretty good deal when it comes to health insurance. He works as a senior financial controller for West Plains Veterinary Supply, which employs about 50 people and distributes pet food, toys and vet supplies across the region.
和大约1.57亿美国人一样，巴比特通过工作获得保险。与大多数美国人不同的是，他的工作提供了极其优厚的福利。“我们的老板非常好——他们为所有员工提供医疗保健并且由他们付费，”他说。公司提供几种不同的计划选项，并承担了大部分或全部的每月保费费用。
Like about 157 million Americans, Babbitt gets insurance through his job. Unlike most Americans, his job has exceptionally generous benefits. "Our owners are very nice — they give all of our employees health care and they pay for it," he says. The company offers several different plan options and covers most or all of the monthly premium cost.
那么为什么在保费全免的情况下，人们仍然觉得医疗费用高得离谱呢？“每个人都在谈论医疗保健以及它花去了他们多少钱，”巴比特说。他解释说，即使没有每月保费，高昂的免赔额也可能是致命的——这是指患者在保险公司开始为看病和手术等费用进行报销之前，必须自己掏腰包支付的金额。
So why, even with free premiums, does it still feel like health costs are way too expensive? "Everybody talks about health care and how much it's costing them," says Babbitt. He explains that even without monthly premiums, a high deductible can be brutal — that's the amount the patient has to spend out-of-pocket before the insurance company starts paying for doctors visits and procedures, etc.
现年60岁的他回想起情况没那么糟的时候。“在上世纪90年代，我们的免赔额是250美元[或]500美元——现在是5000美元，”他说。“这似乎是一笔巨款。”他补充道：“我们是地球上唯一一个因为生产生病而迫使人们破产的国家。”
Now age 60, he remembers a time when it wasn't so bad. "Back in the '90s, our deductibles were $250 [or] $500 — now they're $5,000," he says. "That seems like a lot." "We are the only country on our planet that forces people into bankruptcy because they get sick," he adds.
一辆新车的成本，年复一年根据一项针对近2000家雇主关于其医疗福利的年度调查显示，美国的医疗费用正在快速上涨，甚至连那些通过工作获得坚实医疗福利的工人们也感受到了这一点。该报告于周四由无党派医疗研究机构凯泽家庭基金会发布。
The cost of a new car, every year Health care costs are rising fast in the U.S., and even workers with solid health care benefits through work are feeling it, according to an annual survey of nearly 2,000 employers about their health benefits. The report was published Thursday by KFF, a nonpartisan health research organization.
“四口之家的平均医疗保险保费现在是28000美元，这是一大笔钱，”凯泽家庭基金会医疗保健市场项目副主任马修·雷表示。“基本上每年要花掉一辆新车的成本，才能让一个四口之家维持保险。”在家庭保费的总额中，工人们平均每年支付约7000美元，其余部分由雇主支付。
"The average health insurance premium for a family of four is now $28,000, which is just a ton of money," says Matthew Rae associate director for the Health Care Marketplace Program at KFF. "It's basically the cost of a new car every year just to keep a family of four insured." Of that total for family premiums, workers pay about $7,000 per year on average and employers pay the rest.
他解释说，一线积极的迹象是，计划费用的增长速度不像过去几年那样快。“我们看到家庭医疗保险保费增长了5%，这延续了一段温和增长的时期，”他说。这一增幅大致与工人工资和通货膨胀持平。
A glimmer of positivity is that the costs for plans isn't growing as fast as it has in years past, he explains. "We're seeing a 5% increase in family health insurance premiums, which continues a period of modest growth," he says. That increase is roughly on par with worker wages and inflation.
然而，“在大数字上的5%增长依然是一大笔钱，”雷指出。此外，工人们支付的那部分保费成本的增长率达到了9%。“如果这是将成本转嫁给工人的开端，那在可负担性方面将是一个大问题，”他说。
However, "a 5% increase on a big number is still a lot of money," Rae points out. Plus, the growth for the portion of the premium costs that workers pay was 9%. "If this is the beginning of a shift of costs onto workers, that would be a big deal in terms of affordability," he says.
雷补充道：“我们要求人们凑出大笔资金。许多人将收入很大一部分投入到了医疗保险上。”
"We are asking people to chip in a lot of money," Rae adds. "Many people are committing a big chunk of their income to health insurance."
无保险率正在上升另一份报告展示了这些高费用如何影响人们的健康。这项由支持独立研究的非营利基金会联邦基金每两年进行一次的调查题为《2026年医疗保险覆盖状况》。该报告的主要作者萨拉·柯林斯表示，即使对于那些幸运拥有医疗福利的工人来说，“大约43%的人表示，在过去的一年里，他们因为费用原因而没有接受医疗保健，大约31%的人报告说他们有医疗债务”。
The uninsured rate is rising Another report demonstrates the way these high costs affect people's health. The survey, conducted every two years by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit foundation that supports independent research, is entitled "The State of Health Insurance Coverage in 2026." Even for workers fortunate enough to have health benefits, "about 43% of them said that they didn't get health care because of cost over the past year, and about 31% reported that they had medical debt," says Sara Collins lead author of the report.
另一个关键发现是，总体无保险率在过去两年中有所上升。柯林斯表示，这意义重大但并不令人意外，因为联邦政策做出了诸如让针对《平价医疗法案》参保人员的额外联邦补贴到期，以及人们在大流行紧急状态结束后失去医疗白卡等决定。
Another key finding was that the overall uninsured rate rose in the last two years. Collins says that's significant but not surprising, because of federal policy decisions like letting extra federal subsidies for people enrolled in Affordable Care Act plans expire, and people losing Medicaid after the pandemic emergency ended.
联邦数据显示，数百万人的医疗保障已经从医疗白卡或《平价医疗法案》交易市场中流失。当明年生效工作要求时，预计将有数百万人失去医疗白卡。
Federal data shows millions of people have lost health coverage already from either Medicaid or the ACA marketplaces. When work requirements take effect next year, millions more people are projected to lose Medicaid.
“我认为全国上下有一种强烈的共识，即对于人们在健康和医疗保险方面面临的现状，可能确实需要做点什么——无论是在成本方面还是在这些保障流失方面，”柯林斯说。
"There is a, I think, a strong feeling across the country that something probably does need to be done to the situation that people are facing in their health and health insurance — both on the cost side and then also on these coverage losses," Collins says.
“我们询问人们联邦基金是否有责任确保所有美国人都拥有保障，近四分之三的人给出了肯定回答——其中包括约45%的共和党人、93%的民主党人和76%的独立人士。”
"We asked people whether the federal government has a responsibility to ensure that all Americans have coverage and nearly three quarters said yes to that — that included about 45% of Republicans, 93% of Democrats and 76% of independents."