Employee Health Insurance Premiums Rise Dramatically

Employees who have health insurance at work usually pay part of the premiums each month and their employer picks up the rest. Lately, employees are paying a lot more.

The latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a federal agency, shows private sector employees' share of their premiums surged 121 percent between 2001 and 2009.

By comparison, the total average annual premium for employer-sponsored health plans, which includes both the cost to the worker and to his or her employer, rose at a slower pace during the same period, meaning the employers picked up less of the increase.

Data found that the average annual premium share for workers with employee-plus-one coverage was $1,070 in 2001 but rose to $2,363 by 2009. The average annual contribution for workers with family coverage went up nearly 100 percent – from $1,741 to $3,474.

Workers with single coverage experienced an increase of 92 percent in their average annual share– from $498 to $957.

Specifically, the total premium increases for the different categories of coverage were:

• For an employee-plus-one plan – $5,463 to $9,053 (66 percent)
• For a family plan – $7,509 to $13,027 (73.5 percent)
• For a single plan – $2,889 to $4,669 (62 percent)

While healthcare costs remain one of the fastest rising segments of the economy, there's evidence the increase may be slowing, at least temporarily. Standard & Poor's Healthcare Indices show the average per capita cost of healthcare services covered by commercial insurance and Medicare grew 5.39 perecent over the 12 months ending in April 2011. That's the lowest rate in the six-year history of the indices.