title: Health benefits in 2012: moderate premium increases for employer-sponsored plans; young adults gained coverage under ACA.
abstract: Health care premiums rose moderately for single and family employer-sponsored coverage this year, the 2012 annual Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET) Survey of Employer Health Benefits found. Even with the lingering effects of the recession, cost-sharing levels remained relatively stable in 2012. Also remaining stable was the rate at which employers offered coverage, according to the survey, which was based on telephone interviews with 2,121 public and private employers contacted from January through May 2012. The average annual premiums in 2012 were $5,615 for single coverage and $15,745 for family coverage, an increase of 3 and 4 percent, respectively, from 2011. The percentage of firms offering health benefits, 61 percent, was similar to last year's, as was the percentage of workers at offering firms who were covered by their firm's health benefits, 62 percent. One noteworthy change, because of a provision of the Affordable Care Act, is that 2.9 million young adults who would not otherwise have been enrolled in a parent's employer-sponsored health insurance were covered by that insurance in 2012.
authors.affiliation: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Washington, D.C., USA. gclaxton@kff.org
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Claxton
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rae
authors.forename: Nirmita
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Panchal
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Damico
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Whitmore
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kenward
authors.forename: Awo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Osei-Anto
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult