Trends underlying employer-sponsored health insurance growth for Americans younger than age sixty-five

• Published in: Health Affairs Vol. 32; no. 10; pp. 1715 - 1722
• Main Authors: Herrera, Carolina-Nicole, Gaynor, Martin, Newman, David, Town, Robert J, Parente, Stephen T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The People to People Health Foundation, Inc., Project HOPE 01.10.2013
• Subjects: Age; Appropriations and expenditures; Claims; Codes; Datasets; Drugs; Financing, Personal - trends; GDP; Gross Domestic Product; Health Benefit Plans, Employee - economics; Health Benefit Plans, Employee - trends; Health care expenditures; Health care policy; Health Expenditures - trends; Health insurance; Health services; Humans; Insurance; Insurance claims; Insurance coverage; Medical service; Medicare; Middle Aged; Per capita; Pharmacy; Population; Prescription drugs; Prescriptions; Prices; Studies; Trends; United States; United States; United States > US; Employer-Based Insurance; Cost Of Health Care; Health Economics; Health Spending
• DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0556
• ISSN: 0278-2715

Little is known about the trends in health care spending for the 156 million Americans who are younger than age sixty-five and enrolled in employer-sponsored health insurance. Using a new source of health insurance claims data, we estimated per capita spending, utilization, and prices for this population between 2007 and 2011. During this period per capita spending on employer-sponsored insurance grew at historically slow rates, but still faster than per capita national health expenditures. Total per capita spending for employer-sponsored insurance grew at an average annual rate of 4.9 percent, with prescription spending growing at 3.3 percent and medical spending growing at 5.3 percent. Out-of-pocket medical spending increased at an average annual rate of 8.0 percent, whereas out-of-pocket prescription drug spending growth was flat. Growth in the use of medical services and prescription drugs slowed. Medical price growth accelerated, and prescription price growth decelerated. As a result, changes in utilization contributed less than changes in price did to overall spending growth for those with employer-sponsored insurance.