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Report: Employer-Based Health Insurance Costs Continue To Climb

Lauren Chapman
/
IPB News

More than half of Hoosiers get health insurance from their employer and that coverage is growing more expensive.

The report from the Commonwealth Fund looks at all states and finds Indiana is in line with a nationwide increase in costs. 

From 2008 to 2018 the annual Hoosier employee contribution rose from 3.8 percent of a person’s income to 5.7 percent.

Sarah Collins, a vice president with the Commonwealth Fund, led the study.

"Even though premiums costs take up a large share of people’s income, many people are not getting insurance that offers them good cost protection," says Collins. "This is because for many, deductibles are also high."

Add in an average $1,800 deductible for employees, and people in Indiana pay 10 percent of their median income out-of-pocket. 

Collins, lead author of the study, says this can discourage some workers from getting needed coverage and care.

"People with low and moderate incomes may go without insurance if it competes with other expenses like housing or food and high deductibles may lead people to skip needed health care or not fill a prescription," says Collins. 

The report is part of the group’s ongoing study into factors that drive high health care costs.

Contact Jill at jsheridan@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @JillASheridan.