Health Care Premiums Soaring Study Finds (AP): "Health care premiums for families in employer-sponsored plans soared 13.9 percent in 2003, the third year of double-digit growth and the biggest spike since 1990, a new study found. Annual family premiums increased to $9,068 this spring, according to a survey of 2,808 companies by two health research organizations, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust. Small firms, with three to nine workers, faced the largest increase with a 16.6 percent surge in premiums. Mid-sized companies with between 200 and 999 workers had the smallest increase with a 12.4 percent growth rate. The portion of the premium paid by an employee for family coverage grew 12.9 percent to $201 a month, or $2,412 annually, while the amount a single employee paid for a policy rose 7.6 percent to $508 a year, or a little more than $42 a month. Employers paid the remainder of the $3,383 premium for a single coverage. Experts were not surprised by the rise because employees have shunned the restrictive policies of managed care plans, which sought to reduce costs, while they still demanded the newest, most expensive drugs and procedures. With that issue unlikely to change — and no new strategies employers believe will substantially reduce costs — the trend of bigger health care spending is expected to continue."
