According to the article “Workers Absorb More of the Rising Cost of Health Care, Survey Shows” by Joanne Kenen on health.newamerica.net, a new survey released by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that overall health insurance costs went up by about 3% in 2010 and nearly all of the extra costs were passed on to the workers, rather than the employers offering the health insurance policies. 

This is very discouraging news as many workers saw no increase in their wages, and many were laid off.  A PPO insurance quote was higher this year as well.  PPOs remain popular as they enroll about 58% of covered workers.  The average PPO family premium was up to $14,000 for a family policy.  More than 1 in 4 covered workers have high deductibles as well, which are often $1000 or more per policy.  Rates are even high for smaller businesses, up to 46% higher.

Even copays increased this year from $20 to $22 for primary care, and from $28 to $31 for specialty care.  These small increases really add up overtime and are definitely affecting consumers.  There needs to be more comparison shopping available for a PPO or HMO insurance quote to encourage health insurance companies to be more competitive and bring overall costs down, or at least keep them stagnant.  Health insurance costs are going up much quicker than their wages and it will quickly be felt in their paychecks, if it hasn’t already.