Healthcare Premium Costs Lower, But Still Significant
Organizations saw an average increase of 14.7% in their healthcare premium costs in 2004. Although companies are still realizing double-digit increases, the rise is not as drastic as seen in recent years. Please see press release below for further details.
KANSAS CITY (PRWEB) September 24, 2004 -
Nationwide, organizations saw an average increase of 14.7% in their healthcare premium costs in 2004. Although companies are still realizing double-digit increases, the rise is not as drastic as seen in recent years. In 2003, the average increase was 16% and the 2002 average reached 17%. This is according to the Compensation Data pay and benefits survey.
"While this may be a step in the right direction, employers are still facing rising costs and must utilize methods to control and reduce healthcare expenses," said Amy Kaminski, Manager of Marketing Programs for Compdata Surveys.
The most common approach is increasing the employee portion of the healthcare premium, which 47.5% of employers did in 2004. In each of last three years, over 40% of organizations nationwide have passed more of the premium costs to employees.
In addition, companies used other methods to decrease costs: 35.5% increased deductible levels, 21.7% increased the employee co-insurance level, 17.9% offered a choice of deductible levels, 17.8% switched carriers, 12% reduced the amount of benefits offered, and 4.7% implemented a managed care program.
About Compdata Surveys
Compdata Surveys is the nationÂ’s leading compensation and benefits survey data provider. Annually, data is collected from thousands of organizations across 37 states and is published in state-specific publications. In 2004, information was collected from nearly 5,000 organizations and covers more than 5 million employees. The Compensation Data survey results provide a comprehensive summary of pay data for 500 positions, benefits information and pay practices with an effective date of March 1, 2004. For further information about our compensation and benefit surveys, contact Amy Kaminski at (800) 300-9570.
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This press release was distributed through eMediawire by Human Resources Marketer (HR Marketer: www. HRmarketer. com) on behalf of the company listed above.
