Fall is enrollment season for many people who get insurance through their workplace. Premium increases for 2015 plans are expected to be modest on average, but the shift toward higher out-of-pocket costs overall for consumers will continue as employers try to keep a lid on their costs and incorporate health law changes.
Recent surveys of employers suggest that premiums will rise a modest 4 percent in 2015, on average, slightly higher than last year but lower than typical recent increases.
"That's really low," says Tracy Watts, a senior partner at benefits consultant Mercer.
Even so, more employers say they're making changes to their health plans in 2015 to rein in cost growth; 68 percent said they plan to do so in 2015, compared with 55 percent just two years earlier, according to preliminary data from Mercer's annual employer benefits survey.
They are motivated in part by upcoming changes mandated by the health law. Starting in January, companies that employ 100 workers or more generally have to offer those who work at least 30 hours a week health insurance or face penalties.
"The more people you cover, the more it's going to cost," says Watts.
In addition, consultants who monitor benefits say, employers are moving to avoid a 40 percent excise tax on expensive health plans—those with premiums that exceed $10,200 for individuals or $27,500 for families--that will take effect in 2018.
More employees can expect to be offered high-deductible health plans linked to health savings accounts or health reimbursement arrangements in 2015. Nearly three-quarters of companies with more than 1,000 workers offer such plans, according to the 2014 Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health employer health care survey. Nine percent said they planned to add them in 2015.
For a growing number of employees, those plans may be the only ones available through work. For 2015, 30 percent of large employers said they expected to offer only an account-based plan to workers, nearly double the percentage that did so in 2014, the Towers Watson/NBGH survey found.
When employers shift toward plans with higher deductibles, they often try to sweeten the deal for employees by offering to put money into the financial accounts to help defray the workers' increased cost, says Brian Marcotte, president and CEO of the National Business Group on Health. The extra cash—an average $600 per employee—is often tied to wellness activities such as agreeing to get health screenings, says Marcotte. As employees evaluate their health plan offerings this fall, it's worth checking to see if such incentives are offered.
Also this year, workers may find it increasingly expensive to cover their spouses, especially if they have coverage available through their own jobs.
Employers have been increasing workers' costs to cover dependents, including spouses, in recent years. Nearly half of employers say they've hiked employee contributions for dependent coverage, and another 19 percent plan to do so in 2015, according to the Towers Watson/NBGH survey. Upcoming increases are particularly aimed at spouses, including $50 to $100 monthly surcharges for spousal coverage, says Sandy Ageloff, a senior consultant at benefits consultant Towers Watson.
"Legally under the Affordable Care Act, plans can't exclude coverage for kids," says Ageloff. "But they're really trying to shift the onus back on to spouses."
Kaiser Health News is an editorially-independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Menlo Park, Calif.
Copyright 2014 Kaiser Health News. To see more, visit http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/.
