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Survey outlines increase in Hoosier health care costs

Nyhart, Indiana’s largest independent actuarial and employee benefits consulting firm releases the results of the 2011 Indiana Healthcare Benefit Survey on September 13. The survey reached 215 employers across the state reflecting the benefit plans of 170,000+ Hoosier workers.

The results were presented today at the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s 2011 Indiana Employee Benefits Seminar.

Findings include:

• Healthcare benefit costs increased 6.9% (single coverage) and 8% (family coverage) in 2011.
• The typical Hoosier is paying $105/mo. for single coverage and $417/mo. for family coverage. Indiana employers provide an average subsidy of $364/mo. for single coverage and $915/mo. for employees with family coverage.
• For 2011, nearly one in five employers increased their deductible. Employees of those companies saw their deductible rise by 49 on average%.
• Healthcare benefit costs are higher costs for Hoosiers than the national average.
• When faced with a choice of cutting back benefits or shifting costs to employees, 44% of employers favor reducing benefits to maintaining cost levels while 18% favor passing cost increases on to employees.

“The survey reinforced what we’ve been observing in our practice – that employers are shifting to high deductible plans and looking for ways to put more of the healthcare costs on the shoulders of their employees as costs continue to escalate,” said healthcare actuary and lead researcher Randy Gomez, FSA. “The study of the survey confirms that in the future healthcare benefits will be treated as a commodity.”

The study was conducted in partnership with First Person Benefit Advisors, Gregory & Appel Insurance and Old National Insurance. The executive summary of the survey is available to all businesses for download online at www.nyhart.com/research/. Companies seeking to receive the entire 80+ page report including benchmarks by industry, geographic region and employee-count may do so if they commit to participating in the 2012 survey.

Source: Nyhart