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Benefits May 12, 2003
Employer Health Care Costs Could Triple By 2010
May 12, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The share of health
care costs the employers are paying could increase threefold
by 2010.
Reported by Eric Hazard
Employers could see per-employee health care costs reach $10,946 by the end of the decade, up from $3,262 in 2002. If health care costs continue to grow at current rates, employer health benefits will constitute 16.5% of total compensation by 2010, according to a new study by the Employment Policy Foundation (EPF).
Looking at the previous year, the average total cost of health insurance for full-time year-round employees was $5,458 for family plans and $3,189 for individual plans annually with an overall average cost of $3,262. Employers paid approximately 77% of the cost of family plan and 67% of individual plan costs, on average. For a Fortune 500 company with 40,000 employees in 2002, the average employer cost of $3,262 translates into approximately $130 million.