Workers are getting slammed with higher healthcare costs

Health care costs have been rising at historically modest rates for a decade now, prompting a considerable amount of discussion and debate by economists about whether the trend can continue. Most workers, though, would probably be asking another question: What the heck are they talking about?

Since 2005, premiums have grown an average of 5 percent a year, sharply lower than the 11 percent average annual increase between 1999 and 2005, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. That trend continued in 2015, with the average premium rising a modest 4 percent, according to an annual survey of nearly 2,000 employers by the Kaiser foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust released last week.

But Drew Altman, the CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation, saysthat shift has been “all but invisible” to consumers because deductibles have been climbing at a substantially faster rate.

“With deductibles rising so much faster than premiums and wages, it’s no surprise that consumers have not felt the slowdown in health spending,” Altman said.

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