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Insurance
Premiums for some Family Health Plans cost
$20,000 or more
Newswise — One in 10 enrolled workers in
Alaska, Indiana and Minnesota were in health
insurance plans costing $20,000 or more – at
least $7,000 more than the national average
– for employer-based health insurance
premiums that covered their families in
2008, according to the latest numbers from
the Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality.
The federal agency’s analysis of annual
employer-based health insurance premiums
also found that, for the nation as a whole,
10 percent of enrolled workers – about 2
million – had a family plan that cost
$17,000 or more. The average annual premium
for family plans in 2008 was $12,298.
In addition, AHRQ’s analysis of
employer-based health insurance premiums in
2008 for private industry found that:
• The portion of family plan premiums paid
by the employee for one in 10 workers
nationwide was $6,700 or more, compared with
the national average of $3,394.
• However, 10 percent of workers in Arizona,
Colorado, New Mexico and Washington spent at
least $8,100 to get family coverage.
• Some 3.1 million workers nationwide with
single-coverage were in plans with annual
premiums totaling $6,200 or more, or at
least 41 percent higher than the national
average of $4,386.
• For workers who were enrolled in
single-coverage plans, one in 10 paid at
least $1,900 – more than double the national
average of $882.
Health insurance premiums vary within and
between the states; the survey provides
estimates of the range of premium costs
within each state and across the nation, in
addition to average premiums.
AHRQ, which is part of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, works to
enhance the quality, safety, efficiency, and
effectiveness of health care in the United
States.
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