Healthcare premiums are on the rise in 2009 and, no surprise, the costs continue to shift to consumers. More and more individuals and families are facing greater healthcare premiums and less coverage leaving them with greater out-of-pocket expenses. If you are faced with increased out-of-pocket expenses related to healthcare issues, Medical Cost Advocate can help.
Most U.S. healthcare organizations saw an increase in their health insurance premiums this year, according to information contained in the 2009 Compensation Data Healthcare report.
The 2009 Compensation Data Healthcare results reveal that, although the average premium increase had been decreasing in previous years, the average premium increase was 9.9 percent for all plan types. The data is collected by Compdata Surveys, a national compensation survey and consulting firm.
Comparatively, the average premium increase was 7.0 percent in 2008 and 10.9 percent the previous year. When comparing plans in 2009, 66.5 percent of organizations offering PPO plans saw an average increase of 9.5 percent. Those offering HMO and POS plans had average premium increases of 9.4 and 9.8 percent, respectively. HDHP plans had increases of 9.6 percent.
“Medical plans continue to be a source of scrutiny, as high health insurance costs are cutting into organizations’ bottom lines,” said Amy Kaminski, manager of marketing programs for Compdata Surveys. “Organizations continue to search for ways to reduce healthcare costs, but often higher costs are passed on to employees.”
To contain rising costs, healthcare providers used a variety of methods. The most often used method was coordination of benefits, at 81.4 percent in 2009, while a network of healthcare professionals was employed by 77.3 percent. Utilization review was prevalent, as 62.7 percent of organizations used it to contain costs.
The 2009 Compensation Data Healthcare results showed 63.6 percent of companies increased the employee portion of the premium in their efforts to reduce costs. This is higher than the percentage seen in 2007.
Currently, 37.4 percent and 16.4 percent of organizations increased deductible levels and employee co-insurance levels, respectively. On average, healthcare providers contribute 9.8 percent of payroll toward the cost of health benefits, which is the same cost to provide all of the following benefits: dental, life, retirement, disability and other non-mandated benefits.
Compensation Data Healthcare 2009 contains data on more than 200 industry-specific job titles and more than 250 benchmark titles ranging from entry-level to top executives. Data is collected annually from employers across the country.
The results provide a comprehensive summary of pay data, benefit information and pay practices with an effective date of January 1, 2009.