Nationally, family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance increased 119 percent between 1999 and 2008, and could increase another 94 percent to an average $23,842 per family by 2020 if cost growth continues on its current course, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report.
The report, Paying the Price: How Health Insurance Premiums Are Eating Up Middle Class Incomes, State Health Insurance Premium Trends And The Potential Of National Reforms, finds that national reforms that slow healthcare cost increases by 1 to 1.5 percent per year would yield substantial savings for families and employers. By 2020, slowing the annual rate of growth by 1 percent would yield more than $2,500 in reduced premiums for family coverage, and slowing growth by 1.5 percent would yield more than $3,700 in premium savings compared to projected trends.
The report found that insurance premiums have been rising much faster than income across states. As a result, by 2008 total premiums—including employee and employer shares—equaled or exceeded 18 percent of the average household income for the working age population in 18 states, compared to just three states in 2003.
