Only one in four employers are confident they will offer active employees health care benefits by 2022. This is a marked decline from 2007, when three out of four employers were equally confident, according to a new report.
Colonial Life Insurance Company discloses this finding in a white paper, "Employee Benefits: Are You Getting Your Money's Worth." The report cites the latest data from Colonial Life's proprietary research, national research organizations and government resources to examine the importance of benefits communication in helping employers maximize the investment they make in employee benefits.
Employer-sponsored insurance remains the leading source of health insurance in America, covering 56 percent of individuals under age 65. Although a flat economy slowed the rate of cost growth, premiums for employer sponsored heath insurance increased 97 percent between 2002 and 2012, outpacing worker wage increases (which rose 33 percent) and inflation (up 28 percent) during the same decade, the report shows.
Although total premium costs per employee increased just over 5 percent between 2011 and 2012, employees' share increased 8.7 percent during the same period, the white paper adds. Employees shouldered this increase in premiums despite nearly stagnant wages: By the end of 2012, employees contributed 42 percent more for health care premiums than they did in 2007.
