Employer-sponsored family health insurance plans increased by 7 percent compared to last year, according to the KFF’s annual Employer Health Benefits Survey.
This is the second year in a row that premiums went up by 7 percent, KFF said.
According to the nonprofit health policy organization, annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage averaged $25,572 this year, $6,296 of which was paid by the worker and $19,276 by their employer.
Businesses are the ones most impacted by price increases. Though family premiums went up 24 percent over the last 5 years, workers’ contributions increased only 5 percent on average, roughly $300.
“Employers are shelling out the equivalent of buying an economy car for every worker every year to pay for family coverage,” KFF President and CEO Drew Altman said in a Wednesday press release.
“In the tight labor market in recent years, they have not been able to continue offloading costs onto workers who are already struggling with health care bills.”
Single-care premiums told a similar story: while insurance costs for individuals bumped up another 6 percent after last year’s 7 percent increase—now averaging at $8,951—the deductible for individual insurance remained similar to last year, $1,787 on average.
That said, there exist great variances between employers, with the average annual deductible for single coverage being roughly $1,000 higher at small companies compared to large firms. Many large companies have self-funded health plans, meaning they pay for health services for their employees from their own pocket rather than through a third-party insurance company, leading to lower costs.
According to the KFF, 154 million Americans rely on employer-sponsored coverage. For its 26th survey, the organization screened 2,142 large and small employers, including private and non-federal public employers.
Weight Loss Drugs
This year’s survey focused on mapping various insurance coverage trends, including IVF, rebates from pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), abortion, mental health, substance abuse, etc.
The KFF also paid special attention to employer coverage of popular but costly weight loss drugs, such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
Less than 1-in-5 businesses with fewer than 200 employees cover the drugs, whereas 28 percent of large companies with north of 5,000 people on the payroll offer weight loss drug coverage, albeit often with certain conditions attached.
These conditions often include meeting with a dietician or other professional in advance, required participation in a weight-loss program, etc.
Among large companies that do not cover weight loss drugs, only a quarter showed interest in doing so next year.
“Employers face the challenge of integrating these potentially important treatments into their already costly benefit plans,” KFF Vice President and study author Gary Claxton said.