Although employer health insurance coverage has proved to be relatively stable during the COVID-19 pandemic, the costs of that insurance consume a greater share of working families’ incomes in every state than they did a decade ago, a new Commonwealth Fund report finds. According to the report, State Trends in Employer Premiums and Deductibles, 2010–2020, median incomes have not kept pace with rising health insurance costs and deductibles, which are fueled by high health care and drug prices.
The report is part of the Commonwealth Fund’s ongoing series that looks at state-level trends in the overall cost of employer health insurance. It provides a state-by-state analysis of how much insurance is costing workers in premiums, deductibles, and as a share of income, from 2010 to 2020.
A key finding in the report:
Premium contributions and deductibles totaled 11.6 percent of median income in 2020, up from 9.1 percent in 2010. On average, employees’ premium costs amounted to 6.9 percent of income in 2020, an increase from 5.8 percent in 2010. The average annual deductible for a middle-income household
amounted to 4.7 percent of income, compared to 3.3 percent in 2010. Together, the average total cost of premiums and potential deductible spending across single and family insurance policies climbed to $8,070. Costs ranged from a low of $6,528 in Hawaii to a high of more than $9,000 in Florida, Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota, and Texas.
Read more:
- State Trends in Employer Premiums and Deductibles, 2010–2020. The Commonwealth Fund. January 12, 2020