Out-of-pockets costs for workers at large U.S. employers will surpass $2,500 in 2018 as deductibles rise and consumer-directed health plans become a more popular offering to employees. An annual analysis by Aon shows out-of-pocket costs and increases in “medical inflation” will increase average health costs for employees by 7.2%, slightly ahead of this year’s 6.9% increases. That brings the employee's share of the employer cost including . Of the total that employees are projected to pay next year, and rising much faster than premiums, which will be $2,678 on average. Out-of-pocket costs, which include co-payments, deductibles and related cost-sharing, have more than doubled since 2011, the Aon analysis shows. "Companies have had to manage rapidly accelerating health care costs via cost-sharing and through other traditional strategies such as vendor re-negotiations and implementing narrow networks," Stephen Caulk, vice president and chair of Aon Health’s trend committee, said in a statement accompanying the report. Worker out-of-pocket costs and premiums combined are expected to be $5,248 in 2018, according to Aon... [+] Hewitt's annual cost survey Aon's out-of-pocket cost figure was somewhat higher than the figure in a survey earlier this month by the National Business Group on Health, which expects employees to have “about $2,203 in out-of-pocket costs for themselves and their dependents.” NBGH represents employers like Amazon, Boeing, General Motors and Wells Fargo. But all of the health benefit reports coming out this time of year indicate the corporate strategy to shift costs to workers isn’t going to be over anytime soon. Workers will see these figures during the coming fall open enrollment period, that annual time of year from September through October when big employers allow workers to change their benefit packages for the following year. More and more large employers are offering a consumer-directed health plan, which uses a high deductible strategy that is designed in part to make workers think twice before choosing an expensive and potentially unnecessary treatment or procedure. Aon's database of 1,300 employers shows 75% offer a high-deductible health plan. Aon's health cost data comes from more than 450 large U.S. employers representing 10 million health plan members and more than 1,200 plans that purchased $54 billion in health care services this year.
Out-of-pockets costs for workers at large U.S. employers will surpass $2,500 in 2018 as deductibles rise and consumer-directed health plans become a more popular offering to employees.