Clark Howard warns about a money trap hitting millions of Americans

16 Sep 2026, 15:14 · The Fresno Bee

Higher pay, a shorter commute, or a long-considered career change can all be reasons to start looking for a new job. For roughly 23 million American workers, the only thing keeping them in their current roles is the employer-controlled health insurance plan.

Clark Howard, the founder of Clark.com and a consumer advocate, flagged this growing problem on The Clark Howard Show, which he hosts, pointing to research on how deeply employer coverage now shapes career decisions.

Howard argued on the September 9, 2026, episode that tying healthcare to employment is a system that desperately needs fixing.

New research from the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America uses the term “job lock” to describe workers who remain in positions they want to leave because they cannot afford to lose employer-sponsored coverage.

The problem is not limited to low-wage positions, because middle-income workers and employees managing chronic conditions are among those most deeply affected.

West Health-Gallup data reveals the financial anxiety behind job lock

About 51% of Americans now worry about affording healthcare over the next 12 months, the highest share in five years, the West Health-Gallup study found.

Among workers who described healthcare expenses as a “financial burden,” 48% said they stayed in positions they wanted to leave, the study noted.

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Among workers who described healthcare expenses as a “major financial burden,” 48% said they stayed in positions they wanted to leave. Workers earning $48,000 to $90,000 annually faced the highest job lock rate at 27%, while those above $180,000 reported 16%, the West Health-Gallup study found.

The burden falls hardest on households that earn too much to qualify for subsidies but too little to absorb the full cost of marketplace coverage on their own.

Women and workers with chronic conditions face the steepest job lock rates

Women stayed in unwanted jobs at a rate of 30%, ten points higher than men at 20%, the West Health-Gallup researchers found. The gap compounds as women are also more likely to carry medical debt and report financial stress from healthcare costs.

Workers with any diagnosed chronic condition reported job lock at 29%, compared with 17% for workers without one, the Gallup data showed. The share climbed to 41% among workers with three or more chronic diagnoses.

Ellyn Maese, senior research consultant at Gallup and a lead researcher for the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America, said job lock penalizes workers least equipped to absorb financial risk.

Anybody having to stay in a job just to keep their health insurance, knowing that they want to leave, is crazy … that is a concerning figure, even if it's 10%. But when we're seeing it rise to 1 in 4 employees, that's pretty serious

The consequences extend beyond frustration, as the study noted, job lock is linked to lower life satisfaction, reduced mobility, and higher occupational injury rates.

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Rising premiums and expired ACA subsidies deepen the coverage gap

Average annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance reached $26,993 in 2025, a 6% increase from the prior year, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) reported.

Workers contributed $6,850 annually from their own paychecks, with the cumulative five-year increase in family premiums reaching 26%, KFF noted.

Coverage outside employer plans became harder to afford after enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies expired at the end of 2025, when Congress adjourned without passing an extension.

KFF estimated that the subsidy lapse could push nearly 5 million people off ACA marketplace coverage in 2026, with average monthly premiums jumping 58% for enrollees who switched to cheaper plans and more than doubling for those who kept the same coverage.

“Healthcare tops the list of economic worries right now,” Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, told NPR. “So it stands to reason that people would be concerned about leaving an unwanted job for fear of losing their health insurance.”

Only 28% of workers said it was a good time to find a quality job in a Gallup workforce study conducted between late October and mid-November 2025, a new low that Gallup said reflects a sharp reversal from mid-2022, when 70% said the same.

KFF’s 2025 survey found that more than half of covered workers at small firms now face annual deductibles of $2,000 or more, exposing many insured workers to substantial out-of-pocket costs even with employer coverage in place.

How workers stuck in job lock can evaluate their options

Workers who feel trapped in their current positions have more coverage pathways than many realize, Howard noted on his show.

Steps to assess your coverage alternatives

1. Marketplace comparisons: HealthCare.gov allows enrollees to compare premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket limits across plans side by side before making a decision.

2. Spousal or partner coverage: A partner’s employer plan may offer comparable benefits, and a job change is listed among the qualifying events that trigger a special enrollment period, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

3. HSA contribution limits: Workers in qualifying high-deductible plans can contribute up to $4,400 individually or $8,750 for families in 2026, with tax-deductible contributions and tax-free growth on invested balances, the Internal Revenue Service confirmed.

4. COBRA continuation: Federal law allows departing workers to keep employer coverage for up to 18 months at the full premium plus a 2% administrative fee, the U.S. Department of Labor noted.

Job lock reflects a structural failure decades in the making

Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, told NPR that the pattern reflects a policy failure stretching back a full century.

“For 100 years, Congress has effectively penalized workers unless they enroll in health insurance that disappears when your job does,” Cannon said.

Cannon argues that as long as coverage remains tied to employment, workers will keep weighing insurance loss against career growth when considering a job change.

Maese widened the frame, pointing to what job lock takes from the broader economy. The freedom to leave a job, move, or start something new, she told NPR, is “what we need to see for our economy to really thrive.”

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This story was originally published September 16, 2026 at 8:14 AM.