Health Care Costs Rise

While annual health care premiums for job-based family plans rose a seemingly respectable 4 percent this year, premiums averaged $15,745, with employees picking up more than $4,300 of that tab, according to an annual employer survey released Sept. 11.

 According to an Associated Press report, the costs are a reminder that the U.S.’s struggle with unaffordable medical care is still significant.

 Overall, "it's historically a very moderate increase in premiums," said Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which conducted the survey with the Health Research & Educational Trust.

 He quickly added: "But even a moderate increase feels really big to workers when their wages are flat or falling."

 General inflation rose only 2.3 percent, by comparison.

“ ... Even a moderate increase feels really big to workers when their wages are flat or falling. The rise in premiums easily outpaced workers’ raises and inflation,”Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which conducted the survey with the Health Research & Educational Trust said.

The Kaiser survey shows premiums for job-based family coverage have risen by nearly $2,400 since 2009, with a corresponding increase of nearly $800 for employee-only coverage.

 The survey also found that employees at companies with lower-wage workers pay more money for thinner insurance than what their counterparts at higher-wage paying firms get.

 Gaining traction: A growing majority of U.S. companies offer account-based health plans — plans with a high deductible, coupled with an employee personal account that can be used to a portion of non-covered medical expenses.

Source: TowersWatson