The cost of health insurance is expected to increase at a slower rate this year than it did in 2011 or has since 2001, according to a report.
Employers' benefit expenses should increase 9.9 percent, projections say, the first time the cost increase has been below 10 percent in about a decade, Employee Benefit News reports. Researchers surveyed more than 100 insurers and administrators who oversee coverage for more than 100 million American workers and determined that insurance providers and employees are both partly responsible for the improvement.
Employees are tightening their spending in the aftermath of the financial crisis, including cutting down on elective medical procedures, while insurers are removing margins they built into their offerings last year. That was a reaction to government health reforms, which the industry is now more prepared to deal with.
At the same time, experts are not confident this marks a new trend and remain concerned about the high and growing cost of healthcare. Federal regulators are looking into the impact that self-insurance may have on the market, according to Bloomberg. They note that if enough employers pursue self-insurance rather than traditional coverage, it might unbalance the market and accelerate rate growth, making it more difficult for employers and workers to pay for employee benefits.
