Its annual Employer Health Benefits Survey is just out. Key findings tend to conform to those of other surveys.
Premiums in 2011 for single and family coverage in 2011 are $5,429 and $15,073, respectively, amounting to 8% and 9% increases over 2010.
Premiums increased significantly faster than workers’ wages (2.1%) and general inflation (3.2%). Since 2001, family premiums have increased 113%, compared with 34% for workers’ wages and 27% for inflation.
Workers contribute 18% (single) and 28% (family) of premium costs, shares which were unchanged from 2010. In dollars, that amounts to $921 and $4,129.
The average deductible for a single enrollee in a PPO plan is $675; for a high deductible health plan (HDHP) with a savings option, $1,908.
The rise of HDHPs is steep. The share of employers offering HDHPs rose to 23% from 15% in 2010. 17% of workers are enrolled in a HDHP, up from 13% in 2010 and 8% in 2009.
Just looking at single person plan deductibles of at least $1,000, the percentage of single coverage workers with at least this deductible rose from 10% in 2006 to 31% in 2011. Twelve percent of single coverage workers had deductibles of at least $2,000.