From Galen:
Premiums for job-based health insurance fell this year to 6.1%, the fourth consecutive year that costs have fallen and the lowest rate of increase since 1999, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported this week. Also, the number of firms offering high-deductible plans increased by nearly 30%, and premiums for these plans were the lowest of all plans while employers made generous contributions to spending accounts for their workers.
Pop quiz: How many of you saw that as the lead of yesterday’s reports? Not many.
The lead we often read was reflected in The New York Times story that said: "The cost of employer-sponsored health insurance premiums has increased 6.1 percent this year, well ahead of wage trends and consumer price inflation…the modest slowdown in insurance inflation mainly reflects cutbacks in coverage by many health plans, which have found ways to make employees pay more for their care."
Read more here (Especially the part about HSAs and HDHPs).
-Max Borders
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