Survey: Premiums for employer-sponsored family coverage up 5 percent in 2018

The average annual premium for employer-sponsored family health coverage rose 5 percent this year to $19,616, including employer and worker contributions, according to the latest annual survey of employer-sponsored health insurance by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The average annual premium for single coverage increased 3 percent to $6,896. About 85 percent of covered workers have a general annual deductible for single coverage, up from 81 percent last year. The average single deductible was $1,573, about the same as last year but twice what it was a decade ago, largely due to an increase in high-deductible plans. “Deductibles of at least $2,000 or more are increasingly common in employer plans, which means the bills can pile up quickly for workers who require significant medical care,” said lead author Gary Claxton, director of KFF’s Health Care Marketplace Project. About 56 percent of small firms and 98 percent of large firms offered health benefits to some of their workers in 2018, similar to last year. Among large firms (200 or more workers) offering coverage, about three quarters cover telemedicine services and one in five collect data from workers’ mobile apps or wearable devices as part of their wellness programs.