Employers Shift Larger Share Of Medical Costs To Workers, As Annual Premiums For Covering A Family Hit Nearly $20,000
Not only has the number of workers who face an annual deductible grown, but the average deductible has creeped higher and higher for more than a decade, a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds.
The Associated Press:
Survey: Companies Continue To Pass Health Costs To Workers
If your employer is sticking you with a bigger share of the medical bill before health insurance kicks in, you may have to get used to it. More companies are making workers pay an annual deductible or increasing the amount they must spend before insurance starts covering most care, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Annual deductibles for single coverage have now climbed about eight times as fast as wages over the last decade. (10/3)
Modern Healthcare:
Workers Shoulder A Growing Share Of Healthcare Costs
The ongoing stability of the employer market where 152 million people get their coverage is welcome news for companies, considering the volatility and high premiums that have characterized the individual insurance market where roughly 20 million people buy coverage.
But there's a trade-off: Employers have continued to shift a larger share of the cost of coverage to their workers by requiring them to pay more for healthcare out of pocket. Not only has the number of workers who face an annual deductible grown, but the average deductible has creeped higher and higher for more than a decade. (Livingston, 10/3)
The Wall Street Journal:
Employer-Provided Health Insurance Approaches $20,000 A Year
The average cost of employer health coverage offered to workers rose to nearly $20,000 for a family plan this year, according to a new survey, capping years of increases that experts said are chiefly tied to rising prices paid for health services. Annual premiums rose 5% to $19,616 for an employer-provided family plan in 2018, according to the yearly poll of employers by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation. Employers, seeking to blunt the cost of premiums, also continued to boost the deductibles that workers must pay out of their pockets before insurance kicks in. (Wilde Mathews, 10/3)
The Hill:
Premiums See Moderate Increase In 2018 For Employer Plans
Overall, the burden of deductibles for covered workers has tripled since 2008, growing eight times faster than wages, according to the survey. “Health costs don’t rise in a vacuum. As long as out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, drugs, surprise bills and more continue to outpace wage growth, people will be frustrated by their medical bills and see health costs as huge pocketbook and political issues,” KFF President and CEO Drew Altman said. (Hellmann, 10/3)