Health News
- Study Finds That Obese Workers Cost Employers Thousands In Extra Medical Costs Every Year; Kentucky Ranks Ninth In Obesity
A morbidly obese employee costs his or her employer approximately $4,000 more in health care and related costs every year than an employee of normal weight, according to a study in the American Journal of Health Promotion. Kentucky ranks ninth...
- Workers, Employers Blame Obamacare For Higher Premiums, But Experts Say The Causes Are A Lot More Complicated Than That
By Molly Burchett Kentucky Health News While the main provisions of the federal health-reform law are only now taking effect, some Americans are already saying it doesn't work and are blaming it for higher insurance premiums and deductibles. But the...
- For First Time, Annual Health Costs For Families Exceed $20,000
For the first time, the average annual costs of workplace-provided health insurance and other costs for a family of four has exceeded $20,000, a new study has found. Costs are $20,728 this year, an increase of $1,335 over 2011. An average family...
- Employers Will Have To Pay 8 Percent More For Employee Health Insurance Next Year
"Employers will likely face health-care cost increases of 8.5 percent in 2012, but they'll mitigate that burden by pushing more costs onto employees and making other changes to benefits," reports The Wall Street Journal's Katherine Hobson. All...
- Employers: Dropping Group Health Insurance Could Cost You
Looking ahead to 2015, many employers are deciding how to respond to the rising cost of employee group health insurance premiums. A study of employers by the large consulting group Mercer suggests that ?the per-employee health benefit cost will rise by...
Health News
Annual report for Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky region shows employee health care costs there will go up about $400 next year
In an continuing effort to move health costs off the shoulders of employers and onto employees, workers in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky will likely pay an average $4,775 out of their own pockets for health care in 2013 -- about $400 more than this year. That's nearly $2,000 more than they paid in 2007. The payments include premiums through their employer, as well as office co-pays and deductibles, said Aon Hewitt, the consultant that produced its annual cost report. These payments are slightly less than the national average of $4,814.
The trend toward "more employee accountability" means that nearly all companies are adjusting the designs of their employee plans, adding wellness programs and moving more employees to high-deductible plans with health savings accounts, reports Cliff Peale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Penalties are now common for workers who smoke or who don?t take required health screenings.
The report notes that companies continue to bear most of the cost of their employees? health insurance. It also predicts that, counting the portion paid by both companies and workers, the cost of a health care policy will increase 6.4 percent next year to $11,566. That should return the region to numbers more aligned with the national average. About half of all Americans still get benefits through their employers, and there are nearly 50 million without health insurance at all. (Read more)
The trend toward "more employee accountability" means that nearly all companies are adjusting the designs of their employee plans, adding wellness programs and moving more employees to high-deductible plans with health savings accounts, reports Cliff Peale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Penalties are now common for workers who smoke or who don?t take required health screenings.
The report notes that companies continue to bear most of the cost of their employees? health insurance. It also predicts that, counting the portion paid by both companies and workers, the cost of a health care policy will increase 6.4 percent next year to $11,566. That should return the region to numbers more aligned with the national average. About half of all Americans still get benefits through their employers, and there are nearly 50 million without health insurance at all. (Read more)
- Study Finds That Obese Workers Cost Employers Thousands In Extra Medical Costs Every Year; Kentucky Ranks Ninth In Obesity
A morbidly obese employee costs his or her employer approximately $4,000 more in health care and related costs every year than an employee of normal weight, according to a study in the American Journal of Health Promotion. Kentucky ranks ninth...
- Workers, Employers Blame Obamacare For Higher Premiums, But Experts Say The Causes Are A Lot More Complicated Than That
By Molly Burchett Kentucky Health News While the main provisions of the federal health-reform law are only now taking effect, some Americans are already saying it doesn't work and are blaming it for higher insurance premiums and deductibles. But the...
- For First Time, Annual Health Costs For Families Exceed $20,000
For the first time, the average annual costs of workplace-provided health insurance and other costs for a family of four has exceeded $20,000, a new study has found. Costs are $20,728 this year, an increase of $1,335 over 2011. An average family...
- Employers Will Have To Pay 8 Percent More For Employee Health Insurance Next Year
"Employers will likely face health-care cost increases of 8.5 percent in 2012, but they'll mitigate that burden by pushing more costs onto employees and making other changes to benefits," reports The Wall Street Journal's Katherine Hobson. All...
- Employers: Dropping Group Health Insurance Could Cost You
Looking ahead to 2015, many employers are deciding how to respond to the rising cost of employee group health insurance premiums. A study of employers by the large consulting group Mercer suggests that ?the per-employee health benefit cost will rise by...