Premiums for the employee benefits that workers get for their families appear to be on the rise, according to a recent survey performed by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage totaled $16,350 this year. That's up 4 percent from 2012, with employees contributing approximately one-fourth of that total at $4,565. This has workers getting less take-home pay, as wages and inflation rose 1.8 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively, over that same period.
Economic experts say that despite the modest increase, the rise in health costs is relatively minimal. Since 2003, premiums have risen by 80 percent, or three times the rate of wages and inflation.
Maulik Joshi, president of the Health Research and Educational Trust, which also took part in the study, indicated that slower premiums growth is helping workers maintain access to affordable health coverage.
"Wellness programs are an exciting component of this process with employers offering resources to employees that help improve their overall health – our ultimate goal," said Joshi.
Gary Claxton, the study's lead investigator and director of Kaiser's Healthcare Marketplace Project, noted that what will likely have an impact on the rate of premium increase is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He stated that under the ACA, employers may decide to ask their workers to contribute more of their earnings to coverage, depending on their health conditions and lifestyle.
Supporters of the ACA are hopeful that the reform law will live up to its namesake. In a recent survey performed by Consumer Watchdog, approximately half of the California voters polled said that they had difficulty affording healthcare as presently constituted, particularly with regards to the expense of insurance premiums.
