Dive Brief:
- Annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance coverage climbed an average of 3%, to $18,142, this year, a minor increase at a time when workers’ wages (2.5%) and inflation (1.1%) also grew incrementally, according to new national survey of more than 1,900 small and large employers.
- The Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust's (HRET) 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey, released yesterday, reports that workers on average contribute $5,277 annually toward their family premiums.
- This year’s low premium increase, similar to last year’s (4%), reflects a significant slowdown over the past 15 years. Since 2011, average family premiums have increased 20%, more slowly than the previous five years (31% increase from 2006 and 2011) and more slowly than the five years before that (63% from 2001 to 2006).
Dive Insight:
Low premium rates are always good for employers and their workers, but the former benefit more in this case. Higher deductible plans linked to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) or Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) have lower average premiums than more traditional plans.
In 2016, 29% of all workers were in such plans, up from 20% in 2014, while PPOs are taking a hit, with 48% of workers having them in 2016, compared to 58% in 2014. The study found the average deductible rose 12% to $1,478 annually for covered workers who have them. At small employers, average deductibles cross the $2,000 barrier.
While the Kaiser Family Foundation report had many other interesting stats related to healthcare trends, employers looking for the real cost drivers in their healthcare spend need look no further than the medicine cabinet. Pharmaceutical costs continue to skyrocket, with expensive specialty drugs hitting the marketplace. This looks like the next frontier in the effort to cut the employee medical bill.