Cost of family health insurance nationwide increasing dramatically

The cost of family health insurance nationwide is increasing dramatically for employees without anywhere near an equivalent increase in family income. If this trend continues, more workers are likely to become uninsured because of the expense.

The amount workers pay for family coverage nationwide has increased by 30 percent from $8,281 in 2001 to $10,728 in 2005.

Employee income has increased by only 3 percent in the same time period.

The average cost employers pay for their share of family coverage has increased by 28 percent from $6,360 to $8,143.

Seventy-six percent of insured individuals in the United States receive health insurance from their own or a family member’s employer. It follows that the more employees and employers have to pay for that insurance, the more likely workers are to join the ranks of the uninsured.

The average annual premium for a family in Florida rose from $8,400 in 2001 to $10,850 in 2005 after adjusting for inflation. About half of Florida employers, 51.2%, were offering health coverage in 2005, down from 56.7% five years earlier.

As part of Cover the Uninsured Week (April 27–May 3), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation commissioned the University of Minnesota to prepare this comprehensive state-by-state analysis on the cost of family health insurance premiums as compared to income. The researchers used data from ongoing federal surveys of individuals and employers to examine trends in employer-sponsored health insurance coverage, premiums and offer rates across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. They collected additional data on offer rates from the federal Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Insurance Component.