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Employers' insurance costs rise
(Gazette, The (Cedar Rapids, IA) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sep. 5--Health insurance premiums climbed by an average of 8.8 percent in the past year for Iowa employers, according to a new survey.
The increase was slightly more than the 8.2 percent increase from 2006 to 2007, according to the 10th annual Iowa Employer Benefits Study by David P. Lind & Associates of Clive. That year was the first since 2001 in which premiums had increased by less than 10 percent.
The average monthly premium for single coverage among Iowa employers was $356, while the average monthly premium for family coverage was $960. Employers continued to raise employee deductibles, co-payments and out-of-pocket costs to manage the rising costs. From 2000 to 2008, the average deductible on a single plan increased 229 percent from $280 to $920, the study said, while on a family plan it increased from $599 to $1,924.
The next year might not be so tough on employers and insured employees, a different survey suggests.
Employers getting ready to renew their health plans expect costs to rise by an average of nearly 8 percent, according to a preliminary survey find ings by New York-based consultant Mercer. For smaller companies with 10 to 499 employees, the expected increase is about 10 percent.
Most of the employers said they will take steps to lower their actual cost increases. As a result, Mercer expects cost to rise 5.7 percent next year.
Blaine Bos, a senior health and benefits consultant for Mercer in Minneapolis, said it is a relief to see the price increases slowing down, but it is not an unqualified success.
"While some employers are using innovative methods to hold down costs, more employers are simply shifting costs to employees, he said.
Mercer said 59 percent of the employers it surveyed plan to raise deductibles, co payments, coinsurance or employee out-of-pocket spending limits.
One of the more encouraging findings in the Lind survey was growth in employersponsored wellness programs. Two-thirds of Iowa employers offer some kind of medical or wellness information to help employees stay well, the survey found, up from 57 percent in 2007. The survey found 37 percent of employers offering health screening programs, up from 31 percent.
Growth in consumer-driven health plans that combine high-deductible health insurance with health savings accounts may have peaked, Lind's survey findings indicate.
Only 17 percent of employ ers surveyed in 2008 offered consumer-driven health plans, compared with 26 percent in its 2007 survey. Only about 2 percent said they were very likely to offer a consumerdriven health plan in the next 12 months, with 80 percent either somewhat likely or very unlikely to offer the plans.
Lind surveyed 2,744 randomly selected Iowa employers with 10 or more employees, receiving 954 responses. The results were accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percent.
Mercer's results represent 1,317 early responders to a survey that is ultimately expected to include 3,000 employers. Final results will be released later in the year.
-- Contact the writer: (319) 398-8317 or david.dewitte@gazcomm.com
To see more of The Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gazetteonline.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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