Employers' health care costs expected to rise 9% - San Francisco Business Times:

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The projected cost increase is slightly lower thanthe 9.2 percenr increase in 2009 and 9.9 percent increass in 2008, according to . Despite the medical cost increases continue to outpace inflatiomn andwage increases. One reaso medical costs continue to climb is that workers are acceleratingf use of health care services in anticipationh of losing theirjobs and, potentially, their healthy insurance, the report Rising unemployment, growing numberd of people with littl or no insurance and a growingg percentage of the population on Medicaids further ramp up medical cost trend — the figures actuaries use to set futurew health insurance premiums.
Coupled with big declines in corporatse profits, employers surveyed by Pricewaterhouse Coopers said they will push more of the costas of health insurance to their workers in while expecting workers to take more responsibilitt for managing theirpersonal health. The national trends suggest most employerds and employees will pay far more than those in the purchasing pool run by the CalifornisPublic Employees’ Retirement System. The pension fund approvesd an overall 2.
9 percentr increase in health care premiums for memberesin 2010, the lowest rate hike in 14