Millions of Americans with employer-sponsored insurance are seeing higher medical bills while employers are benefiting from a slowdown in growth in overall healthcare costs, according to a report from the Center for American Progress.
From 2008 through 2013, the average annual growth rate of employees' monthly premium contributions and out-of-pocket expenses, adjusted for inflation, was more than twice that of average annual growth in real per-capita national healthcare spending, according to the study. This growth has also outpaced employers' costs of offering these benefits by more than 40 percent. Between 2007 and 2013, employees' costs increased by 21.1 percent , while costs for employers only rose by 14.5 percent, the study shows.
At the same time, the study notes, employers have not compensated employees for their rising costs with wage increases. Among all families, the median real income fell by $5,116 between 2007 and 2013 — from $68,931 to $63,815.22, according to the study.
Based on its findings, the Center for American Progress recommended the following reforms: increasing transparency about employers' and employees' healthcare costs and savings, shared savings rebates to limit shifting cost to employees and expanding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's free preventive-services benefit to lessen employees' cost-sharing burden.
"These reforms will allow millions of Americans with employer-sponsored insurance to benefit from the slowdown in healthcare spending. If employers ask their employees to shoulder a greater share of their healthcare costs, employees also should share in the resulting savings," the authors wrote.
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