Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | M | Managed Care Quarterly

Deceleration of health care inflation.

Article Excerpt
New evidence suggests that health care inflation is easing, even if the cost burden still feels significant for employers. Health premiums increased an average of 9.2 percent in 2005, down from 11.2 percent in 2004, according to a new survey of 2,995 employers by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust. The 2005 figure ended a four-year streak of double-digit increases, but the growth rate still is more than three times the growth in workers' earnings (2.7 percent) and more than double the rate of general inflation (3.5 percent). Employers faced smaller increases for self-funded plans and HMOs than for fully funded plans and PPOs.

Kaiser Family Foundation president Drew Altman, however, cautions employers not to be deceived by the abatement in inflation. "We've seen these dips before," he said. "The rate of increase in health care costs always bounces back. We should beware of reformers who promise too much, however sincere they may be." Health premiums have increased 73 percent since...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!