Survey: U.S. health insurance costs rise 6%

"Health insurance costs rose just over 6% per employee for the third year in a row in 2007, pushing coverage costs to a national average of almost $8,000 per worker," according to Mercer's National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans. (Source: "Health coverage costs employers more," Cincinnati Enquirer, Nov. 19, 2007.) Nationwide, this rise caused the percentage of companies with fewer than 200 workers that also offer insurance to drop from 63% in 2006 to 61% in 2007. "In Cincinnati, employers paid 4.7% more than last year for an average of $8,506 per employee, while in Ohio as a whole, costs jumped 4.5% for an average of $8,229 per employee." The most popular health insurance coverage option remains Preferred Provider Organizations, or PPOs, which provide some coverage for out-of-network doctors.

Overall, the increase in health insurance costs stayed at twice the rate of inflation for a third year in a row. (Source: "U.S. employers’ health benefit cost continues to rise at twice inflation rate," Mercer Press Release, Nov. 19, 2007.) By way of comparison, in 2002 the cost of health insurance increased nearly 15%. One reason recent increases are lower than at the beginning of the decade is that more employers are offering consumer-directed health plans (CDHP) such as Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Accounts, with employees paying up to the full cost for those options. In 2007, the percentage of employees enrolled in a CDHP rose from 3% to 5% of all covered employees.