McClatchy: Health care premiums rise again, workers at smaller firms feel the pinch

Health care premiums rise again, workers at smaller firms feel the pinch

By Tony Pugh | McClatchy Newspapers



WASHINGTON — Premiums for job-based health insurance are up 5 percent in 2008 and have more than doubled since 1999, a growth rate that far outpaces inflation and the increase in workers' wages over the same period, according to an annual survey of employers.

Meanwhile, a growing number of workers at smaller firms are getting less coverage for their money as health plans with high deductibles and fewer benefits become more prevalent.

The portion of workers with single coverage who pay a deductible of at least $1,000 has jumped from 10 percent to 18 percent in the last two years. Among smaller firms with three to 199 employees, the rate has more than doubled from 16 percent to 35 percent.

"We may be seeing the tip of the iceberg of a trend towards less comprehensive, skimpier insurance with higher out-of-pocket payments for working people," said Drew Altman, President and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation. "That's bad news at a time when workers are being by hit other economic pressures from declining 401(k)s to higher food and gas prices and problems paying the rent and mortgage."

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