Lost in the current health care debate is the fact that over 50 percent of Americans receive their health insurance through their employer or their spouse’s employer. The Kaiser Family Foundation recently published its latest survey on employer-paid health insurance. (here)

The researchers at Kaiser found that last year on average an employee family-plan premium rose three percent and an employee individual-plan premium rose four percent. Compare this to the 20 percent average increase in premiums in the Obamacare individual market last year.

Although the employer-paid health care costs were low, they were still twice the overall inflation rate last year which was 1.7 percent. (here)

The Kaiser survey also found that employees are paying a higher percent of their premium costs and that deductibles are increasing as well. In other words, employers are shifting more health care costs to their employees.

Small employers are requiring employees to pay a higher percent of premium costs. On average, 30 percent of employees in small businesses pay half of their premiums, whereas eight percent of employees in large businesses pay half of their premium cost.

The number of employers offering health insurance benefits has gradually decreased over the past few decades to 53 percent last year. A much higher percent of large employers continue to provide health insurance to their employees compared with small employers.

From a policy standpoint, a greater use of association health plans (AHP) would provide a meaningful alternative for small groups and individuals. (here) Through the use of AHPs, they could access health insurance in the same market place that large groups use. These large group plans come under the regulation of ERISA laws and are not controlled by the Affordable Care Act.

The American public was promised that health care costs would decrease with Obamacare. Unfortunately, and predictably, this has not occurred, even in the employer-paid market.