By Julie Appleby
Kaiser Health News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Premiums for job-based insurance rose modestly for the third consecutive year, reflecting slowed spending, even as key elements of the federal health care law went into effect.

Family premiums rose 3 percent in 2014, one of the lowest increases tracked since the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust began surveying employers in 1999. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)
Nonetheless, the cost of the average family plan rose to $16,834 annually, according to the survey of more than 2,000 employers nationwide.

While both critics and supporters of the Affordable Care Act are likely to find fodder for their positions, the report portrays 2014 as a relatively stable year for employer coverage, with little change in the type of plans offered or their costs. The percentage of firms offering health benefits (55 percent) and the percentage of workers covered at those firms (62 percent) were statistically unchanged from 2013, despite predictions of the law’s critics that many firms would drop coverage.

“We’re in a period of very modest premium increases where the feeling that the employer-based system is unsustainable may cool, at least for a while, until we see higher increases in premiums again for group insurance,” said Drew Altman, president and CEO of the foundation. “No one knows when we might see that again or how sharp those increases may be.”

Total premium costs for single coverage remained about the same, hitting $6,025 a year. And workers paid the same percentage of the premium as they have for the past several years, about 29 percent for family coverage and 18 percent for single plans.

In recent years, employers have been shifting more costs to workers, including raising workers’ deductibles, or the amount people have to pay before most benefits kick in. However, the survey found that there was no significant change in deductibles this year.

In 2014, the average deductible for single employees was $1,217, a 47 percent increase since 2009. Employees at small firms paid even more, averaging $1,797.

Among the changes noted by the survey: The percent of covered workers potentially liable for more than $6,350 in out-of-pocket costs under their plans dropped from 14 percent in 2013 to 7 percent this year. The health law caps out-of-pocket costs, although some employers could go over that amount this year.

But the report warns that insurance may look different in 2015.

For the first time, employers with 50 or more workers are slated to face fines if they don’t offer coverage, a provision that was supposed to begin this year but was delayed by the Obama administration.

Although 92 percent of companies with 50 or more workers already offer coverage, the survey notes that some of those employers may change eligibility rules or the amount they pay toward coverage. Conversely, some firms may offer workers coverage for the first time to avoid fines.

Other employers, especially small ones, may decide to drop coverage, sending workers to state and federal marketplaces to buy individual policies. That was also a concern this year, but the survey found that the percentage of firms offering coverage was 55 percent, down from 57 percent the prior year, a change that wasn’t statistically significant.

On Tuesday, the credit rating firm Moody’s also issued a report, noting that employers did not drop coverage this year “primarily because [they] were not ready to ‘dump’ their employees into an untested public exchange.”

Moody’s analysts said they did not think employer fines in 2015 will have much effect because “most employers already are providing health benefits to their employees.”

Still, if the economy improves and spending on health care ticks up as consumers seek elective care they had previously delayed, that could drive up premiums, the Kaiser report notes.

Since 1999, premiums have risen an average 191 percent, with the fastest growth seen between 1999 and 2004, the report found. Even as employees’ share of the total premium has remained about the same, the total dollar amount has climbed. This year, workers paid an average $1,801 toward the premium for a single plan and $4,823 toward a family plan premium.

Since the mid-2000s, annual premium increases slowed to less than 10 percent each year. This year tied with 2010 for the smallest increase, at 3 percent for family coverage.

Because those are averages, some employers and workers have seen higher increases.

Gordon Gondek, co-owner of Dixie Restaurants in Little Rock, Ark., has about 100 employees eligible for health benefits. He said his premiums went up 12 percent this year, “which was pretty much to be expected,” said Gondek.

He’s not sure what increase he may see next year, but said the company is “doing everything that we can to hold down our costs.”

Smaller rate increases during the past three years are attributed mainly to lower growth in health care spending overall, related to the slow U.S. economy.

Some employers already are getting a glimpse at next year’s costs.

Debby Terzo, the chief operating officer at Shattuck National Bank in Shattuck, Okla., said its insurer quoted a 30 percent increase next year to cover 15 full-time employees. “I kind of looked at it, and I thought, ‘wow.’ I put it in a drawer because I didn’t want to think about it,” she said.

Employers facing such increases often take steps to lower premiums by increasing deductibles, or the amount workers pay out-of-pocket for doctor office visits, drugs or hospital care.

About 41 percent of workers have an annual deductible of at least $1,000, while 18 percent pay at least $2,000 a year, according to the survey.

“One of the reasons why we have moderate premium increases is because deductibles are going up, plans are becoming less generous and it makes people more sensitive to whether they use health care,” said Paul Fronstin of the Employer Benefit Research Institute, a Washington think tank.

– Shefali Luthra contributed.

NEWTON, Kan. (AP) — Newton police warn that a rise in the amount of city graffiti could lead to gang fights over turf.

Sgt. Bryan Hall told KAKE-TV  on Thursday that there have been 57 cases of new graffiti found in the past six months. He says gangs often use the tags to mark their territory.

Hall says the increase has caused police to shift patrols to downtown and near the skate park. Police hopes residents will report graffiti using the department’s crime tracking application.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A potential settlement appears to be in the works on some claims in lawsuits over the May 2013 discovery of genetically engineered Monsanto wheat in an Oregon field.

U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil in Kansas has given the parties until Sept. 29 to file stipulations of dismissal of claims brought by growers of soft white wheat. She has also stayed proceedings to give the remaining parties a chance to explore a possible settlement.

An order filed Wednesday in federal court in Kansas gives the parties until Oct. 27 to file a joint report on efforts to resolve the case.

At least 13 lawsuits against St. Louis-based Monsanto over have been consolidated in Kansas. The lawsuits were initially filed in Kansas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri, Louisiana, Oregon, Texas, Mississippi, Washington, Arkansas and Idaho.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas City, Kansas, police say they’ve arrested a homicide suspect after a chase that crossed state lines.

Police say the tried to stop a vehicle in Kansas because the driver fit the description of a homicide suspect. They say the chase ended in North Kansas City, Missouri, after the vehicle crashed. They say the driver and two other men attempted to flee on foot.

Police have not released their identities.

 

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court plans to hold court late next month at Kansas City Kansas Community College as part of its outreach effort in which sessions occasionally are held at various sites across the state.

The justices will be in session from 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 29 in the Performing Arts Center on the KCKCC main campus. The schedule includes oral arguments in two criminal cases and three civil cases.

Prior to the Supreme Court’s visit, its staff will work with the college’s faculty to identify classes of students who would like to attend the special session. That will include providing background information about the cases to the students so they know the basic legal questions being argued.

The court began visiting various communities in 2011.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Faculty from state universities, community colleges and technical colleges in Kansas are meeting to review courses as part of an effort to make sure students can transfer some credits among all institutions.

Nearly 300 people were registered to attend Friday’s annual Kansas Core Outcomes Group Project conference at Johnson County Community College.

The project is coordinated by the state Board of Regents. Faculty members review course materials and set common outcomes across institutions, so that the transfer of credits is then guaranteed for students.

The conference then recommends courses to add to the board’s list for guaranteed credit transfers, with the regents making the final decision.

There are 46 courses on the list, and 11 others are under consideration.

MCPHERSON- Two people were injured in an accident just before 5p.m. on Thursday in McPherson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Ford Edge driven by Jennifer Marie Hunt, 36, Galva, was eastbound on U.S. 56 at Interstate 135 when a 2014 Buick Regal driven by Lois M. Reilly, 81, McPherson, failed to yield.

The Ford struck the Buick in the driver’s side door. The Ford came to rest in the ditch. The Buick came to rest in the median.

Hunt and Reilly were transported to McPherson Medical Center.

The KHP reported both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident.

TOPEKA — Denise Cyzman has been selected as the new executive director of the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved, an official with the organization confirmed Thursday.

A formal announcement is expected Friday.

For the past three years, Cyzman, who holds a master’s degree in health education from the University of Michigan, has been a vice president for the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan. Prior to that, she was a senior consultant with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors.

Cyzman, who is expected to start at KAMU on Monday, Oct. 20, replaces Cathy Harding, who left in May to become chief executive of the Wyandotte Health Foundation.

Kendra Poole, KAMU’s chief financial officer, has served as interim director since Harding’s departure.

KAMU represents the state’s safety net clinics, which focus on serving the working poor who lack health insurance or are underinsured.

MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is one step closer to launching its newest spacecraft designed for humans.

Workers at Kennedy Space Center in Florida gathered by the dozens if not hundreds to watch as the Orion capsule emerged from its assembly hangar Thursday morning.

The capsule — sealed for protection — slowly made its way to its fueling depot atop a 36-wheel platform. The capsule and its attached service module and adapter ring stretched 40 feet high.

Orion will make its space debut in December on an unmanned test flight. It will shoot 3,600 miles into space and take two big laps around Earth before re-entering the atmosphere at 20,000 mph and parachuting into the Pacific.

NASA intends to put astronauts aboard Orion in 2021 for deep space exploration.