Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Remarkably Stubborn Stability' Coming To Define Employer-Provided Insurance Marketplace, Survey Finds
The New York Times: While Premiums Soar Under Obamacare, Costs Of Employer-Based Plans Are Stable
In sharp contrast to the soaring health insurance premiums in many Affordable Care Act marketplaces, the cost of coverage for the vast numbers of people who get insurance through their jobs rose relatively little this year, continuing a period of remarkable stability in the employer market, according to a national survey released Tuesday. The annual premium for family coverage rose an average of 3 percent to $18,764 this year, according the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit group, which conducted the annual survey of employers. (Abelson, 9/19)
The Associated Press: Health Benefit Offers From Small Businesses Keep Vanishing
Only half of America's smallest businesses now offer health coverage to their workers because many say steady cost hikes have made it too expensive to afford a benefit that nearly all large employers still provide. The Kaiser Family Foundation said Tuesday that 50 percent of companies with three to 49 employees offered coverage this year. That's down from 59 percent in 2012 and 66 percent more than a decade ago. (Murphy, 9/19)
Kaiser Health News: In Stark Contrast To ACA Plans, Premiums For Job-Based Coverage Show Modest Rise
Family health insurance premiums rose an average 3 percent this year for people getting coverage through the workplace, the sixth consecutive year of small increases, according to a study released Tuesday. The average total cost of family premiums was $18,764 for 2017, according to a survey of employers by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust. That cost is generally divided between the employer and workers. (Galewitz, 9/19)
Bloomberg: Rising Health-Insurance Costs Are Eating Into Employees' Paycheck Gains
Rising health-care costs are eating up the wage gains won by American workers, who are being asked by their employers to pick up more of the heftier tab. The average worker is shelling out $5,714 for a family health-insurance plan this year, 30 percent of the total $18,764 cost, according to an annual study from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Education Trust released on Tuesday. Five years ago, workers shouldered $4,316 of the $15,745 cost, or 27 percent. (Tracer, 9/19)
Georgia Health News: Employer Survey Shows Wide Variation In Consumer Benefits Costs
Premiums for employer-sponsored family coverage rose an average of 3 percent this year, to a total of to $18,764, according to an employer benefits survey of employers released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust. (Miller, 9/19)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Health Benefits Up Modestly, Now Average $18,764 Per Year For Family
The cost of health insurance provided by employers rose an average of 3% for family coverage this year and now has risen at a relatively modest rate for six years. ... Nationally, health benefits for a family averaged $18,764 this year, according to the annual survey by Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Educational Trust, an affiliate of the American Hospital Association. (Boulton, 9/19)
In a separate study on health insurance and costs —
Houston Chronicle: Health Care Study: Nation More United Than People Think
Despite the seemingly never-ending bickering and bombast over health care in this country, a new Texas Medical Center Health Policy Institute survey shows that people are, in fact, overwhelmingly in agreement on many points. The survey, released Tuesday, also showed that such uniformity of opinion about the importance of health insurance crosses political boundaries. Now in its third year, the survey asked a wide ranging series of health care questions to 9,200 consumers across 15 states and more than 450 physicians earlier this summer. For the first time the survey looked at political leanings of a state to see if that influenced answers. (Deam, 9/19)
