Employers reported modest premium increases in 2013, according to an annual Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Education Trust study published today in the journal Health Affairs. The findings show employer-sponsored family health coverage grew 4% from the previous year to an average of $16,351, with workers paying an average of $4,565. The findings are significant in recent historical terms. Kaiser says that since 2003, premiums have increased 80%, far faster than wages at 31% and inflation at 27%.
“There’s no questions that this is a year with a very moderate premium increase,” Kaiser’s president and CEO Drew Altman said in a conference call with reporters this morning. “We’ll have to see what employers do with it.”
