Small company workers are likely paying too much for health insurance.
If you think you?re spending more money on your health insurance, you?re probably right. A Kaiser Family Foundation report released in September 2014 indicated that workers with single coverage pay about $1,100 in annual premiums?an increase of about 8 percent from the previous year. Workers who have family coverage pay about $4,800 yearly?about a 6 percent increase ? when seeing their health care provider. Employers still pay most premium costs, requiring workers on average to pay 18 percent of solo coverage premiums and 29 percent of family coverage premiums. Here are some ways you can tell if you?re overpaying for health insurance.
1. You work for a smaller company
Gone are the days when about half of employers had deductibles of less than $500. Now about 33 percent do, and some deductibles exceed $2,000 a year. However, some employers put money into health savings accounts. Here?s the kicker, though: businesses with fewer than 200 workers are twice as likely to have annual plan deductibles of more than $2,000.
2. Your out-of-pocket costs are burning a hole in your pocket
You may remember as recently as five years ago, you could see your primary physician for $20 or less. Now your co-payment may be closer to $30 to $40. In another approach, co-insurance pays for about 18 percent of workers? office visits. In these scenarios, workers pay a proportion of their visit costs?about 20 percent.
3. Your medication costs come in tiers.
The good news is that costs for generic drugs have been pretty steady. The bad news is that prices for brand-name drugs have inched up. Insurance companies established levels of coverage, which means brand-name drugs cost about $53 as opposed to $11 for a generic version.
