“Consumers who get health insurance through their jobs won’t see rate hikes in the double digits like those on the Obamacare exchanges, but they’ll still see the cost of health care go up.
“Large employers estimate that the employee share of health insurance costs next year will be $4,400, up from $4,200 this year, according to a new report from the National Business Group on Health. On average, employers will continue to cover about 70 percent of the total costs, which they project will increase by 5 percent to $14,156.
“As the price of insurance continues to go up, more companies are looking into different kinds of plans. If your company doesn’t offer a high-deductible health insurance plan, it probably will soon.
“The plans, which shift some costs from the company to the worker and encourage consumers to shop around for health care, are becoming far more common. In 2018, nine in 10 large employers will offer at least one high-deductible health plan, up from 84 percent last year, according to NBGH.” Source: Beth Braverman, Financial Times.
Guideline: Large Employers have 50 or more full-time equivalent employees (working 30 or more hours per week).
Currently almost 4 out of every 10 companies have only high-deductible health plans as their only plans available for employees. This trend is predicted to continue across America, with about 97% of large employers making a high-deductible health plan an option for employees to keep their premium cost lower.
The National Business Group on Health has also found trends in large employers offering plans with tele-medicine available and providing onsite health centers for treatment of minor medical issues.
