Larger Employers More Likely to Offer Health Insurance, Survey Says

In a recent press release, the Kaiser Family Foundation researched the trends in employer based health insurance plans. They announced that premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance coverage continued to rise. The 2007 survey revealed that while the costs continue to rise, they are rising at a slower pace than in prior years. This survey provides the opportunity for employers and employees alike to compare their company health insurance benefits with overall business trends.

Size of business health insurance
In 2000 over 69 percent of employers offered health insurance; last year approximately 60 percent of businesses offered it. Nearly all businesses that have more than 200 employees offer some type of health benefit to their workers. Less than half of businesses with three to nine employees offer health insurance to their employees.

Cost of health insurance premiums
"Every year health insurance becomes less affordable for families and businesses. Over the past six years, the amount families pay out of pocket for their share of premiums has increased by about $1,500," said Kaiser President and CEO Drew E. Altman, Ph.D.

As many Americans know, premiums have risen dramatically. In fact, this survey states that health insurance premiums have risen over 78 percent since 2001. Today's worker pays an average of over $3,000 towards their health insurance coverage. On average, companies pay a total of $12,100 for a family health insurance policy.

Other findings include:
* The average general annual deductible for single coverage is $461 for PPOs, $401 for HMOs, $621 for POS plans

* For plans with three- or four-tiered drug co-pays, the average co-payments were $11 for generic drugs, $25 for preferred drugs, and $43 fornon-preferred drugs.

* Nearly half (47 percent) of all firms that offer health benefits make them available to unmarried opposite-sex domestic partners, and nearly 37 percent offer such benefits to same-sex partners.

* Large firms (with at least 200 workers) were more likely to offer domestic partner benefits to unmarried opposite-sex partners

* 61 percent of firms that offer health benefits allow workers to use pre-tax dollars to pay for their share of their health premium costs.

* 22 percent offer a Flexible Spending Account, in which workers can set aside pre-tax money to cover out-of-pocket health care spending.

* Large firms (200 or more workers) are far more likely to offer flexible spending accounts than smaller firms.

* Overall, 21 percent of firms say they are "very likely" to raise workers' premium contribution next year.

* Very few firms say they are "very likely" to restrict eligibility for coverage or drop health coverage altogether

The complete survey is available online at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Source:
http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/main.jsp?resourceid=3553507