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Small business insurance costs grow quickly

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 21, 2008

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Companies with 25 or fewer employees are paying a growing and disproportionate amount of their payroll expenses for health insurance, according to a RAND Corp. study released April 4.

Researchers found that 50% of small businesses spent more than 10% of their payroll costs on health insurance.

The smallest businesses, with 11 or fewer employees, saw the most dramatic growth in health insurance premiums. Between 2000 and 2005, the average premium for those companies rose by 53%, according to the study.

The study found that despite the rapid increase in cost, the number of firms continuing to offer health insurance to employees remained stable.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/04/21/bibf0421.htm.

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