On this Labor Day, how is healthcare evolving for workers and firms? First, healthcare spending is on the rise, with costs increasing more than inflation. Fox Business reports on a new Aon study which says that:
…employer health care expenditures are projected to surge 9% in 2025 to more than $16,000 per employee, markedly higher than the 6.5% increase businesses saw in their health care budgets from 2023 to 2024.
One approach to save money is for employers to directly contract with health care providers. BenefitsPro reports that:
…around 75% of employers have already considered or used direct contracting, and another 41% said they likely will by 2025.
Cost for health care vary between individual and family coverage. KFF reports:
The average annual premium for employer-sponsored health insurance in 2023 is $8,435 for single coverage and $23,968 for family coverage.
For both single and family plans, employees make significant contributions to health insurance.
On average, covered workers contribute 17% of the premium for single coverage and 29% of the premium for family coverage, similar to the percentages contributed in 2022. Covered workers at small firms contribute, on average, a higher percentage of the premium for family coverage than those at large firms (38% vs. 25%). As a result, the average contribution amount for covered workers at small firms ($8,334) is considerably higher than the average contribution amount for covered workers at large firms ($5,889).
For more information on workers’ health care quality and cost, stay tuned to the Healthcare Economist blog this year.
