{"id":4752,"date":"2016-10-03T20:35:01","date_gmt":"2016-10-03T20:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wbcnet.org\/member_news\/survey-employee-deductibles-increase-employersae-cost-remains-steady-in-2016\/"},"modified":"2023-06-05T13:52:20","modified_gmt":"2023-06-05T17:52:20","slug":"survey-employee-deductibles-increase-employersae-cost-remains-steady-in-2016","status":"publish","type":"member_news","link":"https:\/\/www.wbcnet.org\/member_news\/survey-employee-deductibles-increase-employersae-cost-remains-steady-in-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Survey: Employee Deductibles Increase, Employers’ Cost Remains Steady in 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"
Survey: Employee Deductibles Increase, Employers\u2019 Cost Remains Steady in 2016<\/strong> Rockville, MD \u2014 \u00a0The median in-network deductible on an employer-sponsored PPO health plan increased 50 percent, from $1,000 to $1,500 in 2016, yet employer costs remain steady, according to the newly released 2016 Health Plan Survey from United Benefit Advisors (UBA), the nation\u2019s largest independent survey of employer-sponsored benefits. Despite these significant deductible increases, nearly half of all employees continue to enroll in PPO plans, finds UBA.<\/p>\n The survey shows that average health plan costs for employers actually decreased slightly from $9,736 in 2015 to $9,727 in 2016 while the employees\u2019 share increased as they continue to accept lower coverage levels. Of the $9,727, employees contributed an average of $3,378 and employers contributed on average $6,350, whereas in 2015, employers paid $6,403 of the $9,736 average overall cost, while employees paid $3,333.<\/p>\n \u201cOverall, employer costs remained consistent because they are passing more and more of their increases on to employees \u2013 a trend we expect to see more of in the future,\u201d says Les McPhearson, CEO of UBA. \u201cEmployers simply cannot continue to absorb unsustainable increases in health care costs. Unfortunately, neither can employees.\u201d<\/p>\n MONTHLY PREMIUMS AND COPAYS<\/strong><\/p>\n UBA finds that total monthly premiums, combined for all types of plans, remained flat at $509 for a single. However, employers shifted costs to employees in other ways, including median out-of-network deductibles, which jumped from $3,000 to $3,400 this year (a 13.3 percent increase) and median ER copays increased from $250 to $300 (20.0 percent).<\/p>\n The employees\u2019 share of monthly premiums increased only slightly from $140 in 2015 to $144 (2.6 percent), and family portions went from $540 in 2015 to $552 in 2016 (2.2 percent).<\/p>\n UBA also finds that families are again bearing the brunt of the cost of health insurance. For an employee electing single coverage, the employer covers 71 percent of the monthly premium, and only 54 percent of a family premium.<\/p>\n \u201cThe deductible increases are mostly due to two factors: First, by raising the deductible $500, you avoid a premium increase of roughly 3 percent to 6 percent. The second factor is the result of insurance carriers being forced to comply with \u2018metal\u2019 levels (platinum, gold, silver, bronze) in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) small group market,\u201d says Troy Snyder, Vice President with Insurance Associates, a UBA Partner Firm based in Rockville, MD. \u201cAs long as insurance carriers are required to meet the ACA metal levels, we can expect to see plan changes in this same direction.\u201d<\/p>\n UBA\u2019s 2016 Health Plan Survey Executive Summary is available NOW.\u00a0 Contact Lexi Stock at Insurance Associates for your copy.<\/p>\n About the 2016 UBA Health Plan Survey<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n The 2016 UBA Health Plan Survey contains the validated responses of 19,557 health plans and 11,524 employers, who cumulatively employ over two and a half million employees and insure more than five million total lives. While other surveys primarily target large employers, the focus of the UBA survey is to report results that are applicable to the small and mid-size companies that represent the overwhelming majority of the nation\u2019s employers, while also including a mix of large companies in rough proportion to their actual prevalence, nationally. This is an important distinction compared to other national surveys.<\/p>\n About United Benefit Advisors<\/strong><\/u> About Insurance Associates<\/strong><\/u> For more information about our passion and the rest of our team at Insurance Associates, please visit us at www.insassoc.com<\/a>, follow us on LinkedIn<\/a> and like us on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Survey: Employee Deductibles Increase, Employers\u2019 Cost Remains Steady in 2016 Employees Take On More Cost for Lower Coverage According to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4910,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4752","member_news","type-member_news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nEmployees Take On More Cost for Lower Coverage<\/em>
\nAccording to Insurance Associates, a UBA Partner Firm<\/p>\n
\nUnited Benefit Advisors\u00ae (UBA) is the nation\u2019s leading independent employee benefits advisory organization with more than 200 offices throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. UBA empowers more than 2,000 Partners to both maintain their individuality and pool their expertise, insight, and market presence to provide best-in-class services and solutions. Employers, advisors and industry-related organizations interested in obtaining powerful results from the shared wisdom of our Partners should visit www.UBAbenefits.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nFounded in 1956, Insurance Associates is an independent insurance agency serving the Mid-Atlantic region with offices in Rockville, Fairfax, Laurel, and Towson.\u00a0 We are a locally owned company that prides itself on having one of the most competent, experienced, and tenured workforces of any agency in the area.\u00a0 We advocate for our clients across a diverse range of products and services including Surety Bonding, Commercial Insurance, Employee Benefit Plans, Personal Insurance and Life Insurance.<\/p>\n