Annual premiums for employer-sponsored health
coverage in the US reached $15,745 in 2012, a year-on-year (YoY)
rise of 4%, with workers paying on average $ 4,316 towards their
coverage, according to research released by the non-profit Kaiser
Family Foundation.
This year premium growth is at one its lowest
annual rates since 1999. It has been outpaced by the growth of
workers’ wages and inflation.
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This marks a significant difference from
previous years, where premiums have increased 97% since 2002, three
times as fast as wages.
Drew Altman, Kaiser president and CEO, said:
“In terms of employee insurance costs, this year’s 4% increase
qualifies as a good year, but it still takes a growing bite out of
middle-class workers’ wages, which have been of falling in real
terms.”
The 2012 Employer Health benefits Survey,
which included over 2,000 US employers, found that the average
annual premium for employer-based family coverage in 2012 is US$
15,745, compared to last year’s average of US$ 15,073.
According to the report, there is also a
significant difference between the premiums low-wage workers and
high-wage workers pay in benefit and worker contributions towards
family premiums.
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By GlobalDataLower-wage workers’ on average pay $ 4,977
towards family premiums, whereas higher-wage workers’ on average
pay $ 3,968.
The survey also pointed out that workers at
lower-wage firms are also more likely to face high deductibles than
those at higher-wage firms.
For example, 44% of covered workers face an
annual amount deductible of $1,000 or more, compared to 29% of
workers in high-wage firms.
Commenting on the findings, Gary Claxton,
Kaiser vice president and director of the Foundation’s Health Care
Marketplace Project, said this year’s survey suggests that working
families at the low end of the wage scale face significant out of
pocket costs for coverage,
He said: “Firms with many lower-wage workers
ask employees to pay more out of pocket than firms with many
higher-wage workers even though the coverage itself tends to be
less comprehensive.”
