While Premiums Soar Under Obamacare, Costs of Employer-Based Plans Are Stable
- 7 years ago
While Premiums Soar Under Obamacare, Costs of Employer-Based Plans Are Stable
In sharp contrast to the soaring health insurance premiums in many Affordable Care Act marketplaces, the cost of coverage for the vast numbers of people who get insurance
through their jobs rose relatively little this year, continuing a period of remarkable stability in the employer market, according to a national survey released Tuesday.
The annual premium for family coverage rose an average of 3 percent to $18,764 this year, according
the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit group, which conducted the annual survey of employers.
Early results from another employer survey, conducted by Mercer, a benefits consultant, indicate
that businesses expected to see health benefit costs increase 4.3 percent for 2018 after making changes like switching insurers or raising plan deductibles.
While employers have relied on steeper deductibles to lower their own costs, companies are recognizing
that they have reached the limits of what they can ask their workers to pay, said Michael Thompson, the chief executive of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, which represents employers.
The average cost of a benchmark plan in the individual market rose 20 percent this year, according to Kaiser, as insurers tried to stem their losses.
About 151 million people are covered through an employer,
and the insurance environment for many of those companies is characterized by “a remarkable stubborn stability,” said Craig Garthwaite, a health economist at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
In sharp contrast to the soaring health insurance premiums in many Affordable Care Act marketplaces, the cost of coverage for the vast numbers of people who get insurance
through their jobs rose relatively little this year, continuing a period of remarkable stability in the employer market, according to a national survey released Tuesday.
The annual premium for family coverage rose an average of 3 percent to $18,764 this year, according
the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit group, which conducted the annual survey of employers.
Early results from another employer survey, conducted by Mercer, a benefits consultant, indicate
that businesses expected to see health benefit costs increase 4.3 percent for 2018 after making changes like switching insurers or raising plan deductibles.
While employers have relied on steeper deductibles to lower their own costs, companies are recognizing
that they have reached the limits of what they can ask their workers to pay, said Michael Thompson, the chief executive of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, which represents employers.
The average cost of a benchmark plan in the individual market rose 20 percent this year, according to Kaiser, as insurers tried to stem their losses.
About 151 million people are covered through an employer,
and the insurance environment for many of those companies is characterized by “a remarkable stubborn stability,” said Craig Garthwaite, a health economist at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.