The Employer Health Benefits Survey, an annual survey conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET), recently unveiled new information on employer health coverage in 2010. Among the many findings, the report highlighted that:
- Annual health insurance premiums for single coverage increased by almost 5 percent from $4,824 in 2009 to $5,049 in 2010. Annual premiums for family coverage are 3 percent higher than the 2009 figures ($13,375 compared to $13,770).
- Smaller firms (3-199 workers) have a lower average family premium of $13,250 than larger firms (200+ workers), who have an average premium of $14,038. However, covered workers in small firms contributed 35 percent of premium as opposed to only 26 percent of premium contributed by workers in large firms.
- Over the last decade, the average annual family premium for covered workers in small firms increased 103 percent, compared to an increase of 120 percent for workers in large firms.
- Sixty-nine percent of employer firms offer health benefits, which is significantly higher than the 60 percent reported in 2009. This change is primarily the result of a 13 percentage point increase in offerings among firms with 3 to 9 workers (from 46 percent in 2009 to 59 percent in 2010). There has been some instability in this category, but the change between 2009 and 2010 is much larger than previous observations, and the specific reason is unclear.
- More than half (54 percent) of small firms not offering health benefits cite high costs as “the most important reason” for not doing so.
For more findings from the survey, see the full report available here.
