Workers’ Health Premiums Rose 63% in 7 Years

[Javaman]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-17/workers-health-coverage-premiums-rose-63-in-seven-years-study-shows.html

U.S. workers’ health insurance premiums rose 63 percent from 2003 to 2010 as employers shifted more of the burden of rising medical costs to individuals and families, a study showed.

The total cost of insuring a family through employer- sponsored health plans rose 50 percent over the same period, reaching an average of $13,871 a year by 2010, according to the Commonwealth Fund study, based on annual government surveys of companies.

Though the study revealed state-by-state disparities, it documented the growing burden of health care on employers and individuals in the years leading up to passage of the 2010 health care law, its authors said.

“Whether you live in California, Montana or West Virginia, health insurance is ever more expensive,” said Cathy Schoen, senior vice president of the Commonwealth Fund and lead author of the study. “Out-of-pocket costs for premiums and care are consuming a larger share of people’s incomes at a time when incomes are down in a majority of states.

more at link...

[izquierdista]

1. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess....

That health benefit payouts have risen 63 percent as well. I mean, where else could the money be going???????????????

[Festivito]

2. Employment down, employer health care further down, remaining plans become more expensive.

The number of sick does not go down just because more people become uninsured, instead, the number sick remains the same and must be paid for by fewer payers into the system, that is the premium payers, who are then charged more -- 63% more, in premiums, this year.

It's an ugly cycle.