2001 plan costs up 11.2% and are expected to climb for 2002: Mercer; Health cost hikes growing.(health insurance costs)(Statistical Data Included)

Business Insurance, December, 2001 by Geisel, Jerry

Double-digit increases in group health care plan costs are back for the first time in nearly a decade, with no end in sight. With health plans continuing to impose stiff rate increases, employers' total health plan costs for active employees in 2001 leaped by 11.2%, to an average of $4,924 per employee, according to a survey of 2,800 employers released today by benefit consultant William M.

Mercer Inc. in New York. Total health care plan costs for large employers-defined as those with at least 500 employees-jumped 12.1%, to an average of $5,162 per employee; while costs for smaller employers rose 11.6%, to an average of $4,649 per employee. In Mercer's study, total health plan costs reflect employer and employee premium contributions for medical, dental,...

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