You've heard the stories … "I had better insurance and much lower rates before all the ObamaCare Affordable Care Act mess started."
Healthcare premiums are rising; but, slower than before (according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's annual survey of employer health benefits).
Start with the basics. On average, the cost of employer-sponsored health insurance increased 26 percent from 2009 to 2014. But costs increased faster before the law was enacted: From 2004 to 2009, costs increased 34 percent. From 1999 to 2004, they went up 72 percent.
Are premiums rising faster for small employers? No, actually, the opposite is true. For companies with 200 workers or more, average 2014 premiums were $17,265, or 3.3 percent higher than in 2013. At companies with 3 to 199 workers, annual premiums in 2014 averaged $15,849 — 1.7 percent more than in 2013, when average premiums were 2.2 percent higher than in 2012.
None of that takes away from the economic hardship imposed on people whose premiums have gone up since the law was passed. My premiums are certainly higher. This just helps put things in perspective.
