of

“It’s for the two of us, and we’re not sick,” said Vartan, general manager at A Slice of New York pizza shops in the Bay Area cities of San Jose and Sunnyvale.

Vartan, who is in his late 50s, is one of millions of Californians struggling to keep up with health insurance premiums ballooning faster than inflation.

Average monthly premiums for families with employer-provided health coverage in California’s private sector nearly doubled over the last 15 years, from just over $1,000 in 2008 to almost $2,000 in 2023, a KFF Health News analysis of federal data shows.

Also, employees have had to absorb a growing share of the cost.

Premiums on Covered California have grown about 25% since 2022, roughly double the pace of inflation.