Survey: Workers’ share of health insurance continue to climb

Companies’ health care costs in 2015 rose at the lowest rate in at least 20 years, a report out Thursday shows, but workers' share of costs continue to increase significantly (Source: “Companies continue chipping away at health insurance benefits,” USA Today, Nov. 11, 2015). 

According to the 2015 Health Care Survey conducted by consulting firm Aon, the average health care rate increase for mid-sized and large companies was 3.2 percent this year. That is the lowest since the consulting firm Aon started tracking it in 1996. Despite this, the average amount workers have to contribute toward their health care is up more than 134 percent over the past decade and that trend is expected to accelerate.

Employees on average contributed $2,490 toward premiums and another $2,208 in out-of-pocket costs, such as copayments, coinsurance and deductibles in 2015, the report shows. The amount of employees’ premium and out-of-pocket costs combined was just $2,001 in 2005.