Michigan Health Premium Benchmark
See how your group health premiums and your employees’ share of the cost compare with the Michigan average for private employers, from the federal government’s own employer survey. Enter monthly figures straight off your bill.
Where your premium sits against Michigan.
Fill in any tier you offer and leave the rest blank. Use the total monthly premium per enrolled employee and the part the employee pays each month.
Employer and employee shares combined, for one enrolled employee.
Employee plus spouse, or employee plus one child.
If your rates are age-banded, use the average across your enrolled employees.
How you compare
Michigan and U.S. averages: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, Insurance Component, 2025 private-sector data (AHRQ), as published by KFF. Averages cover employers of every size and plan type, so treat a gap as a question to ask, not a verdict.
What a statewide average cannot tell you.
Plan Design
A plan with a $500 deductible and one with a $5,000 deductible are both “a health plan” in the survey. Paying more than the average for a much richer plan can be the right call. Paying more for a thinner one is the number to chase.
Who Is Enrolled
Michigan small-group rates are built from your employees’ ages. A group whose average age is 52 will price well above one at 34 on the same plan, and the average cannot adjust for that.
The Share Employees Pay
A premium in line with Michigan’s can still lose you hires if employees carry twice the usual share. The contribution split is often the cheaper lever to move, and it is entirely yours to set.
What to do with the number.
A benchmark only earns its keep if it changes a decision. Here is how we would use yours.
Above Average on Premium
Find out why before renewal: plan richness, a high-cost network, an aging group or simply a carrier pricing you up. Each one has a different fix, and only one of them is changing carriers.
Above Average on Employee Share
Look at it tier by tier. Family coverage is where cost-sharing usually bites hardest and where employees notice first.
Below Average on Both
Check what you are giving up. A low premium sometimes reflects a narrow network or a deductible employees struggle to meet.
In Line on Both
Average is a fair place to be. The next question is the trend: where the plan will sit after two more renewals at the current pace.
What employers ask about premium benchmarks.
Where do the Michigan figures come from?
The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Insurance Component, a yearly federal survey of private employers run by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. It is the standard public source for state-level employer premium data.
Why are my rates different for each employee?
Small-group plans in Michigan are priced by age under the Affordable Care Act, so each employee has a rate. Use the average across the employees enrolled in each tier for a fair comparison.
How much do Michigan employees usually pay?
In 2025, the average Michigan private-sector employee paid about 24% of the single premium and about 27% of the family premium. The tool shows the exact dollar figures for each tier.
Is a lower premium always better?
No. Premium is one number. Deductibles, out-of-pocket limits, the network and the drug list decide what employees actually spend, and our full benchmarking looks at all of them together.
Send us your renewal.
We’ll tell you whether it looks competitive, where we see opportunity, and the five questions we’d put to your carrier. No cost, and no obligation to move anything.
The renewal letter
Your current plan summary
Contribution split by tier
Enrolled counts by tier
Four documents — two more if your group is 50 or more. Nothing else; every extra one is a reason to postpone.
An independent employee benefits consulting firm. We look at the entire benefits program — cost, plan performance, risk and administration.
Switch to CFH. Unhappy with your broker? Your employees won’t notice. You will. →
Cookies on This Site
We use cookies to keep the site working properly and to understand how it is used. You can decline anything that is not essential. See our Privacy Policy for the detail.
- Essential — needed for the site to load and for you to move around it. These cannot be switched off.
- Analytics — tell us which pages get read, so we know what is worth writing more of.
- Advertising — set by third parties such as ad and social platforms to measure and target campaigns.