A growing number of consumers are doling out more of their paychecks for health care premium contributions through their employer insurance plans, according to The Commonwealth Fund Report “The Cost of Employer Insurance is a Growing Burden for Middle Income Families.”

“The cost of employer health insurance premiums and deductibles continues to outpace growth in workers’ wages. This is concerning because it may put both coverage and health care out of reach for people who need it most—people with low incomes and those with health problems,” said Sara Collins, lead author of the study and Commonwealth Fund vice president for health care coverage and access, in a news release.

“Policies that would reduce health care burdens on employees include fixing the Affordable Care Act’s family coverage glitch, requiring employers to exclude some services from the deductible and increasing the required minimum value of employer plans.”

Key findings from The Commonwealth Fund include:

In 2017, the average employee premium costs for single and family insurance plans totaled almost 7 percent of the median income in the U.S., compared to 5 percent in 2008.

Combined, the total expense from premiums for workers and “potential spending” on deductibles for single and family insurance plans increased to an annual amount of $7,240 in 2017.

Employees’ contributions for insurance premiums also increased.  “Between 2016 and 2017, employee premium contributions rose by 6.8 percent to $1,415 for single-person plans and by 5.3 percent to $5,218 for family plans.”

See more information from the report here https://bit.ly/2PV28ah and in Data Watch.