Employees Are Ditching Health Insurance to Save $1,000 a Month

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 ...