Employers' health care costs expected to rise 9 percent - Austin Business Journal:

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The 9 percent projected cost increass is slightly lower thanthe 9.2 percenr increase in 2009 and 9.9 percent increase in 2008, accordingh to Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Despitee the slowdown, medical cost increaseas continue to outpace inflation and wage One of the reasons medical costs continue to climb is that Americajn workers are accelerating use of health care services in anticipatiobn of losing theirjobs and, potentially, theirf health insurance, the report Rising unemployment, growing numbers of peoplee with little or no insurance and a growing percentage of the populatiomn on Medicaid further ramp up medical cost trends the figures actuaries use to set future healtg insurance premiums.
Coupled with big declinees in corporate profits, employeras surveyed by Pricewaterhouse Coopers said they will push more of the cost of health insurance to theifr workersin 2010, while expecting workera to take more responsibility for managing their personal health. The national trends suggest most employers and employees will pay far more than those in the purchasing pool run by the CalifornizaPublic Employees’ Retirement System. The pension fund approved an overalkl 2.
9 percent increase in health care premiumse for membersin 2010, the lowest rate hike in 14