Inflation Threatens to Send Health-Care Premiums Surging (1)

Annual premiums for family health coverage sponsored by employers in 2022 bucked trends by rising far slower than inflation or workers’ wages, but they could increase at higher rates in 2023, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported Thursday.

Family premiums average $22,463 in 2022, up about 1% from 2021, according to its 2022 Employer Health Benefits Survey of nearly 2,200 public and private firms. Workers’ wages increased 6.7%, and inflation increased 8% in 2022. The lower premium increase may be because many premiums were finalized in the fall of 2021 before inflation levels became clear, the health-care think tank said.

“As ...