Government
Employers passing on larger share of insurance costs to workers
■ But the value of health plans' coverage decreased only slightly, according to a new study.
By Doug Trapp — Posted June 17, 2009
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People with employer-sponsored health insurance typically paid about a third more in out-of-pocket costs in 2007 than in 2004 due to deductible increases and higher health care spending, according to an article published June 2 in an online issue of Health Affairs.
The 34% hike pushed average out-of-pocket spending to $729 in 2007, according to the article, written for the Commonwealth Fund, a research organization.
But the increased out-of-pocket spending was most pronounced for high-intensity health care users. Enrollees in the top 1% in terms of health costs saw their out-of-pocket spending increase by 42%, to reach $8,703 annually. The top 10% saw their average climb 39%, to reach $3,364 a year.
"As the nation debates health reform, these findings highlight the need to ensure that workers and their families will have access to affordable health insurance coverage that protects them from high out-of-pocket spending regardless of whether they are healthy or sick," said Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis. About 161 million Americans have employer-sponsored health coverage.
Affordability of employer-sponsored health insurance also declined, according to the report. The percentage of people spending more than 10% of their incomes on out-of-pocket medical costs increased by 5% to reach 18% in 2007.
Meanwhile, the value of health plans decreased only slightly between 2004 and 2007. Employer-sponsored insurance plans still paid 80% of their workers' health care costs in 2007, down from 81% in 2004. The biggest changes in plans was a move toward instituting deductibles and increasing the size of existing deductibles, according to the study.
More employers are choosing plans with greater employee cost-sharing because of overall health care cost increases, said America's Health Insurance Plans spokesman Robert Zirkelbach. "Rising costs are adding pressure to businesses, and they're having to make difficult decisions."
The report can be accessed online (link).
