In 2010, Employers Shifted Healthcare Costs To Workers

McClatchy (9/3, Pugh) reports, "An annual survey released Thursday finds that workers are paying, on average, about $482 more for job-based family health insurance this year as companies force employees to shoulder more of the burden of healthcare costs." In fact, "employers' contributions to family coverage showed no increase at all in 2010, according to the Employer Health Benefits Survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust." Adds McClatchy, "Drew Altman, the president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation, said it was the first time he could remember employers moving so boldly to shift health costs to workers."

The Washington Post (9/3, Hilzenrath) reports, "Thirty percent of employers offering health benefits reported that this year, as a result of the economic downturn, they reduced the scope of benefits or increased cost-sharing -- the amounts employees pay for medical services in co-payments, deductibles and the like." The survey "covered public and private employers with three or more workers," and "was conducted by phone from January through May."