A survey from benefits consultant Mercer shows that healthcare costs for employers will rise around 5.7% in 2009, which would be the slowest rate of increase in 10 years. That’s the good news. The bad news? Employers are achieving the savings in part by shifting yet more costs to employees.
Says Mercer: “Well over half (59 percent) of employers taking action to reduce their 2009 cost increase will raise deductibles, copayments, coinsurance or employee out-of-pocket spending limits. Employee cost-sharing has risen sharply over the past five years: Between 2003 and 2007, the median family deductible for in-network services in a PPO (the type of plan offered by the most employers) rose from $1,000 to $1,500.”
Advertisement
Subscribe in RSS Reader
