Employer Health Insurance Premiums Rose 62%, Deductibles More Than Doubled Across States from 2003 to 2011
<p>Average premiums for employer-sponsored family health insurance plans rose 62 percent between 2003 and 2011, rising far faster than incomes did in all states, according to a new <a href="/publications/issue-briefs/2012/dec/state-trends-premiums-and-deductibles-2003-2011-eroding">Commonwealth Fund analysis</a> that tracks trends in job-based coverage state by state. </p><p>The study also finds that annual costs for the share of insurance premiums paid by workers grew an average of 74 percent, and deductibles more than doubled during the period. Total health insurance premiums now amount to 20 percent or more of annual median family incomes in 35 states, affecting 80 percent of the U.S. working-age population. </p>
<p>"Wherever you live in the United States, health insurance is expensive," says Commonwealth Fund senior vice president Cathy Schoen, the study’s lead author. "And for many middle- as well as low-income families, it is becoming ever less affordable." The state trends over the past decade, she says, underscore the need to build on the groundwork laid by the Affordable Care Act to slow growth in private insurance costs. </p>
<p>A <a href="/publications/publication/2012/dec/trends-employer-sponsored-health-insurance-premiums-and-employee">companion analysis</a> describes trends in employer-sponsored health insurance premiums and worker contributions in 41 major metropolitan areas, while infographics show how growth in insurance costs is straining family and employer budgets in New York, Texas, and across the country. </p>