As two health commissions finalize proposals for the January legislative session, two new studies show that premiums and deductibles continue to spike upward in Connecticut and nationally.
Between 2000 and 2007, health insurance premiums in Connecticut rocketed up 81 percent, according to a study released in mid-October by Families USA, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying group. Average wages in the state, meanwhile, rose just 10 percent over the same period.
In 2007, the average annual premium for a family policy in Connecticut was $13,200, with the employer picking up just over $10,000 of that amount.
While Connecticut ranks among the most expensive states for health insurance, it also is among the least burdensome for families for the percentage they pay of their total premiums.
That burden has shifted slightly toward the employee side this decade, however, as worker costs have more than doubled, compared to a 75 percent increase for employers”™ share of premiums.
What”™s more, many workers are also facing higher deductibles in their plans, according to a separate, 200-page report released in late September by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.
That is partly the result of increased adoption of health savings accounts that give workers the option of setting aside earnings on a tax-free basis in exchange for lower premiums than traditional plans.
Some 18 percent of workers face annual deductibles of at least $1,000 this year, up from 12 percent a year ago; and more than a third of workers at companies with fewer than 200 employees shell out quadruple-digit deductibles.
“Most employees to date have gone along, thinking their out-of-pocket (expense) is rarely going to total to $1,000,” said David Lewis, CEO of OperationsInc, a human-resources consulting firm in Stamford. “The pushback is usually later in the year when people reach the number a bit sooner than anticipated, usually because they don”™t have a solid grasp on the reasonable and customary charge paid for each service provider ”¦  Given the economic climate I would expect far more firms moving to plans like these despite (any) employee”™s protests. It”™s the best way to manage expense to a minimal increase in premium at renewal time.”
In the most recent legislative session, the Connecticut General Assembly created two commissions to explore ways to improve health care access and costs.
The Statewide Primary Care Access Authority has until late December to “inventory” the state”™s network of doctors, hospitals and clinics, and find ways to extract additional revenue out of the federal Medicare and Medicaid system.
Also that month, the Connecticut HealthFirst Authority is due to issue its findings on Connecticut”™s overarching health system, with former Pitney Bowes Inc. CEO Michael Critelli a prominent member. The commission has hosted panels on newfangled approaches in Massachusetts and San Francisco, and recently concluded a statewide series of public hearings with an Oct. 6 gathering in Danbury.
Last May, HealthFirst indicated it was considering five options, including the radical steps of either publicly financed, universal coverage; or a hybrid system in which primary care would be paid by the state, but residents would have to obtain insurance for inpatient care.
Three other proposals under consideration include:
Ӣ bolstering the employment-based system with subsidies, tax incentives and reinsurance treaties;
Ӣ giving employers access to large purchase groups, such as the state employee pool, to negotiate lower rates; and
Ӣ creating regional networks would subsidize health care for people lacking insurance.
“The plan expands state government, increases costs and raises taxes,” said Eric George, associate counsel of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, in a critique of the HealthFirst options. “It”™s just too costly for health care consumers, taxpayers and Connecticut”™s economy.”
CBIA supports a variation of another plan considered by HealthFirst this summer: a so-called value-based plan that is designed to push insurance policyholders toward more healthy behaviors and weed out ineffective treatments by doctors.