Employers Forecast Health Care Costs Per Employee To Exceed $14,000 Next Year

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Free Beacon

Large employers are projecting that health care costs for each worker they employ will rise to $14,156 next year, according to a survey from the National Business Group on Health.
This year those health care costs, which include premiums and out-of-pocket costs for medical and pharmacy benefits, totaled $13,482 per employee, which means next year they will rise roughly 5 percent.
Sally Pipes, president of the Pacific Research Institute, says that unlike these workers, Americans who purchase plans through Obamacare's exchanges won't be so lucky.
"They can expect their premiums to skyrocket by 25 percent or more in 2018," Pipes said.
The survey also finds that employers cover about 70 percent of the total cost, and employees cover about 30 percent, which totals about $4,400 per employee next year.
Employers say that pharmacy costs are the main driver contributing to the cost and will likely remain a concern because of new high-priced drugs entering the market.
"Employers are recognizing that traditional cost control techniques alone aren't able to reduce costs to the point where they are no longer a drain on the bottom line," said Brian Marcotte, president of the group that conducted the study. "While employers continue to address costs through health care management and plan design efforts, they are also ramping up efforts to positively affect the supply side of the health care system by pursuing health care payment and delivery reform initiatives."