Costs Continue To Climb For Job-Based Insurance

According to the yearly survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET), premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose to $13,375 annually for family coverage in 2009 - with employees on average paying $3,515 and employers paying $9,860. The survey was published online in Health Affairs on September 15, 2009.

Each year the Kaiser/HRET Survey of Employer Health Benefits takes a snapshot of the state of employee benefits in the United States, based on interviews with public and private employers. Our findings for 2009 show that families continue to face higher premiums, up about 5 percent from last year, and that cost sharing in the form of deductibles and copayments for office visits is greater as well. Average annual premiums in 2009 were $4,824 for single coverage and $13,375 for family coverage. Enrollment in high-deductible health plans held steady.

Workers wages went up 3.1 percent during the same period. Since 1999, premiums have gone up a total of 131 percent, far more rapidly than workers' wages (up 38 percent since 1999) or inflation (up 28 percent since 1999). For the past few years, however, the annual rise in premiums has been more moderate than the double-digit growth experienced earlier this decade. [KVT]