Growth in Employee Health Plan Costs Slows, but Incomes Still Aren't Keeping Up
<p>The contributions that U.S. workers make to their employer health plan premiums rose more slowly between 2010 and 2015 in 30 states and Washington, D.C., and their deductibles grew more slowly in 27 states, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report out today.</p><p>For the state-by-state analysis, researchers compared the cost of employer health insurance between 2006 and 2015. They found that premiums for single policies grew an average of 4.7 percent in the years leading up to the Affordable Care Act and 3.8 percent in the years following the law’s passage.</p>
<p>Still, many families are spending a bigger share of their income on health care than they were prior to 2010. That’s because median incomes, despite their recent surge, haven’t kept pace with health care costs.</p>