High cost of health care

We all know health-care costs are rising. But did you know they’ve more than doubled in just nine years? According to a new report by Milliman, a global consulting and actuarial firm, the total cost of health care for the average family of four, if covered by a preferred-provider organization, is now a record $19,393. That’s 7.3 percent higher than last year’s average cost of $18.074, which is the smallest year-over-year increase in almost a decade. But it’s also the highest year-over-year increase in total dollars spent per family, at $1,319. Of that $1,319 increase, employers paid for 48.6 percent of it, while the additional 51.6 percent was the responsibility of employees. Over the last five years, employers have absorbed $3,023 in additional health-care costs, with employees absorbing only slightly less, at $2,988.