By Julie Appleby
Wed, Sep 10 2014
Premiums for job-based insurance rose modestly for the third consecutive year, reflecting slowed spending, even as key elements of the federal health care law went into effect.
Family premiums rose 3 percent in 2014, one of the lowest increases tracked since the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust began surveying employers in 1999. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)
Nonetheless, the cost of the average family plan rose to $16,834 annually, according to the survey of more than 2,000 employers nationwide.
While both critics and supporters of the Affordable Care Act are likely to find fodder for their positions, the report portrays 2014 as a relatively stable year for employer coverage, with little change in the type of plans offered or their costs. The percentage of firms offering health benefits (55 percent) and the percentage of workers covered at those firms (62 percent) were statistically unchanged from 2013, despite predictions of the law’s critics that many firms would drop coverage.
“We’re in a period of very modest premium increases where the feeling that the employer-based system is unsustainable may cool, at least for a while, until we see higher increases in premiums again for group insurance,” said Drew Altman, president and CEO of the foundation. “No one knows when we might see that again or how sharp those increases may be.”
Total premium costs for single coverage remained about the same, hitting $6,025 a year. And workers paid the same percentage of the premium as they have for the past several years, about 29 percent for family coverage and 18 percent for single plans.
In recent years, employers have been shifting more costs to workers, including raising workers’ deductibles, or the amount people have to pay before most benefits kick in. However, the survey found that there was no significant change in deductibles this year.
In 2014, the average deductible for single employees was $1,217, a 47 percent increase since 2009. Employees at small firms paid even more, averaging $1,797.
Among the changes noted by the survey: The percent of covered workers potentially liable for more than $6,350 in out-of-pocket costs under their plans, dropped from 14 percent in 2013 to 7 percent this year. The health law caps out-of- pocket costs, although some employers could go over that amount this year.
But the report warns that insurance may look different in 2015.
For the first time, employers with 50 or more workers are slated to face fines if they don’t offer coverage, a provision that was supposed to begin this year, but was delayed by the Obama administration.
Although 92 percent of companies with 50 or more workers already offer coverage, the survey notes that some of those employers may change eligibility rules, or the amount they pay toward coverage. Conversely, some firms may offer workers coverage for the first time to avoid fines.
source : Family Insurance Premiums Rise Modestly For 3rd Year, Survey Finds
