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Employers and workers will shell out more cash for health insurance in 2020.<\/p>\n
Large companies predict the total cost of workplace health-care coverage to reach an average of $15,375 next year, according the National Business Group on Health. That's up from $14,642 in 2019.<\/p>\n
This figure combines workers' and employers' spending on insurance. Employees are expected to shoulder about $4,500 in costs next year, including out-of-pocket spending, the group found.<\/p>\n
The organization, which represents large employers' perspectives on health-care policy, polled 147 large employers to get their perspectives on health-care trends.<\/p>\n
Employees with families face even steeper costs.<\/p>\n
In 2018, employers spent an average of $15,159 in premiums to cover a family of four, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Those workers paid a total of $7,726 in 2018. Of that, $3,020 came from cost-sharing, including deductibles, coinsurance and copayments.<\/p>\n
\"Employer premiums are going up; they pay more each year,\" said Cynthia Cox, vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation. \"But so do the employees and their families.\"<\/p>\n
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Deductibles the amount you must pay before the insurance company provides benefits now account for more than half of workers' out-of-pocket spending, Kaiser found. That's up from 26% in 2008.<\/p>\n
Indeed, among workers in a plan with an annual deductible, the average for single coverage in 2018 was $1,573, Kaiser found.<\/p>\n
The average was even higher for high-deductible health plans: $2,349 for single coverage.<\/p>\n
High-deductible plans, however, often come with a health savings account or HSA that is, a tax-advantaged account that allows workers to save pretax dollars, grow their money free of tax and use the money for qualified health expenses.<\/p>\n
Employers have noticed that these deductibles can be steep for employees, leading some to shy away from offering exclusively high-deductible plans.<\/p>\n
In 2018, about 4 in 10 of the employers polled by the National Business Group on Health offered exclusively high-deductible plans.<\/p>\n
Only a quarter of employers say they will follow this tack next year. They are reintroducing options, namely a preferred provider organization plan.<\/p>\n
So-called PPOs allow you to visit any in-network provider without getting a referral from your primary care physician.<\/p>\n
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With employee benefits season around the corner, workers should expect to see a few changes for 2020.<\/p>\n
Narrowing provider networks: Depending on the employer's location, companies may decide to limit the providers a worker can access in a given geographical area. In exchange, employees may get lower premiums and deductibles, Kaiser's Cox said.<\/p>\n
Using accountable care organizations: Employers coordinate with insurers to create a network of primary care physicians and specialists that work together to manage a patient's care from start to finish.<\/p>\n
This is known as an accountable care organization.<\/p>\n
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Greater use of virtual care: Telemedicine, or virtual care, puts employees in touch with a nurse or doctor for different conditions, allowing them to skip a costly visit to the emergency room.<\/p>\n
More than half of the respondents in the National Business Group on Health survey said they will offer more virtual care programs in 2020.<\/p>\n
\"Virtual care solutions bring health care to the consumer rather than the consumer to health care,\" said Brian Marcotte, CEO of the business group.<\/p>\n
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Your health insurance costs are about to go up in 2020 - CNBC<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" michaeljung | iStock | Getty Images Employers and workers will shell out more cash for health insurance in 2020. Large companies predict the total cost of workplace health-care coverage to reach an average of $15,375 next year, according the National Business Group on Health Continue reading