''Every year, health insurance becomes less affordable to working people."
Fewer companies offering health benefits as costs rise
Premiums growing at 3 times rate of pay
By Jeffrey Krasner, Boston Globe Staff September 15, 2005
As health insurance costs continue to spiral upward, fewer companies are offering health benefits to their employees, according to a national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
About 60 percent of companies nationwide offer health benefits to employees, compared to 69 percent in 2000, the survey found. Most of the companies that eliminated health benefits have fewer than 200 employees.
''It is low-wage workers who are being hurt the most by the steady drip, drip, drip of coverage draining out of the employer-based health insurance system," said Drew E. Altman, president of the foundation, a nonprofit that provides information and analysis of healthcare issues but does not take sides in policy debates. ''Every year, health insurance becomes less affordable to working people."
The annual survey underscored the ongoing increases in healthcare costs. It estimated insurance premiums rose this year by an average of 9.2 percent nationwide, compared to 11.2 percent last year and 13.9 percent in 2003. But Altman warned against reading too much into this year's lower number.
''Don't be fooled by the moderation in the rate of increase," he said. ''We've seen these dips before."
The survey said premium costs are rising at about three times the rate of increase of the average worker's earnings and at about two-and-a-half times the rate of inflation.
''We shouldn't expect anything other than for the rate of health premiums to greatly outpace the growth of wages and the growth of the general economy," Altman said.
Increases in Massachusetts have exceeded the national average. This year, most health plan members faced jumps of 10 to 13 percent, and the state's major health insurers are predicting increases of 10 to 12 percent next year for many customers.
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Premiums growing at 3 times rate of pay
By Jeffrey Krasner, Boston Globe Staff September 15, 2005
As health insurance costs continue to spiral upward, fewer companies are offering health benefits to their employees, according to a national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
About 60 percent of companies nationwide offer health benefits to employees, compared to 69 percent in 2000, the survey found. Most of the companies that eliminated health benefits have fewer than 200 employees.
''It is low-wage workers who are being hurt the most by the steady drip, drip, drip of coverage draining out of the employer-based health insurance system," said Drew E. Altman, president of the foundation, a nonprofit that provides information and analysis of healthcare issues but does not take sides in policy debates. ''Every year, health insurance becomes less affordable to working people."
The annual survey underscored the ongoing increases in healthcare costs. It estimated insurance premiums rose this year by an average of 9.2 percent nationwide, compared to 11.2 percent last year and 13.9 percent in 2003. But Altman warned against reading too much into this year's lower number.
''Don't be fooled by the moderation in the rate of increase," he said. ''We've seen these dips before."
The survey said premium costs are rising at about three times the rate of increase of the average worker's earnings and at about two-and-a-half times the rate of inflation.
''We shouldn't expect anything other than for the rate of health premiums to greatly outpace the growth of wages and the growth of the general economy," Altman said.
Increases in Massachusetts have exceeded the national average. This year, most health plan members faced jumps of 10 to 13 percent, and the state's major health insurers are predicting increases of 10 to 12 percent next year for many customers.
Click here for the rest of the story>
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