So what's driving that growth?

I think we're seeing that there is a very consistent demand for healthcare services, and as a result, there's a very consistent demand for professionals who can perform those services.

It's much, uh, harder to go without healthcare if you feel like your dollars are being squeezed than it is to go without, you know, new goods and services, new electronics, manufacturing products, those sorts of things.

So when we look back in US history, it's pretty common to see that even in periods of tight economic, uh, conditions, we see that healthcare jobs continue to grow pretty steadily.

There's a couple of reasons for this.

Um, one large one is that the US population is an aging population.

We have a large generation that's sort of hitting those elderly years, and they require a lot more healthcare than they did twenty or thirty years ago.

With that in mind, what else will you be watching for? What other factors will be on your radar as you continue to follow the growth in healthcare jobs?

Does the data tell us anything about the costs of employer-sponsored healthcare? Are these costs expected to increase more than usual with all these changes?

So employer-sponsored coverage is different from the ACA marketplaces.

So in the marketplace, most people, they pay a portion of their premium out of pocket, and the rest is paid in the form of a tax credit by the government.

And the proportion that you pay out of pocket is based on your income.

So when that amount of that government subsidy changes, as happened last winter, there's a big change in the amount that you as the enrollee are responsible for paying.

However, when your health insurance is covered by your employer, you also pay a portion of that premium taken out of your paycheck and your employer is the one who covers the rest.

And the amount that you pay and the amount that they pay isn't determined by your income.

What could the current insurance rates tell us about some of the tradeoffs people are facing or could face?

You can also email us at soi at ideastream.org. Emma, I'd like to ask you now, what options are there for people who are seeing their premiums increase? Are there any options?

Yeah, so almost everybody who gets their coverage through the marketplace is going to see their premiums increase for 2026.

The most important thing that you can do is understand what your choices are.

And the best way to do that is to work with somebody who is very, very experienced with the marketplace, like an agent, a broker, a navigator, somebody who can explain everything to you and make it in a way that you understand.

There are options if you were previously on a more expensive plan with a higher premium.

You can reduce your coverage to a bronze plan or even a catastrophic plan.

there are trade-offs that come with making that choice, the main one being that you will have most likely a much higher deductible.

But Emma, why are premiums rising for employer covered plans right now?