Growth in health insurance costs is slowing, but employers are still shifting them to workers
Good news! Health insurance premiums only went up by 3 percent on average during the first five months of 2010--the lowest rate of growth in ten years. You'd think that would mean people are finally getting relief from rising health care costs. Well, that's where the bad news comes in. Employers are rapidly shifting costs [... ]
Workers are paying a larger portion of their health-insurance costs as businesses shift more of the burden to their employees to help ride out the economic downturn, an annual study shows.The average employee contribution toward premiums for family coverage climbed 14 percent this year to nearly $4,000, according to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational ...
Health insurance is taking a bigger bite from workers’ wallets
Workers are paying a larger share of their health insurance as companies shift more costs to their employees to survive the recession. According to a national study released Thursday, workers paid an average of 14 percent more in premiums this year while employers held their own cost increases to “a modest 3 percent.”
While the broader markets have given back some ground after seeing an early rally on Friday, significant strength remains visible among health insurance stocks. The gains by health insurance stocks are driving the Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor Index up by 1.8 percent. With the gain, the index is moving further off Tuesday's one-month closing low.
American workers will pay about $4,000 to get health insurance for their families through work this year, 14 percent more than in 2009, according to a survey today from the Kaiser Family Foundation.