In September 2026, The Guardian reported that Starbucks workers responding to a Starbucks Workers United survey faced sharp increases in their health-insurance contributions for cover beginning on 1 October. More than 130 workers from union and non-union stores took part. The newspaper described individual employees who expected to drop coverage or considered taking another job because of the cost. The evidence is serious as testimony, but the survey is

A SHRM article published on 11 May 2026 reports findings from the organisation’s April 2026 pulse survey. It says 27% of US workers identified high out-of-pocket costs as their primary complaint about current benefits. Separately, 52% of HR professionals identified costs such as premiums and deductibles as the primary benefits issue affecting employees. Those percentages describe different respondent groups and questions. They are not a single prevalence rate and

KFF’s release dated 29 January 2026 reports that 32% of US adults were very worried about affording healthcare, above the other household expense categories tested. It also reports that 56% expected healthcare costs for their families to become less affordable. The January tracking poll covered 1,426 adults surveyed from 13 to 20 January, with a full-sample margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. Its population was