U.S. Employers Expect Health Care Cost Increase of Six Percent for 2009

OPEN MINDS Weekly News Wire Strategic Health Care News Employers in the United States said they expected health care cost increases in 2009 to remain at six percent, the same as the 2007 and 2008 rates. In 2006, health care costs increased by eight percent. Eight percent of companies said that by 2010, they planned to adopt a consumer directed health plan (CDHP) to control cost increases. As of February 2009, about 51% of companies surveyed offered workers a CDHP. In 2008, about 47% offered a CDHP. These are early findings of a report entitled “The Effect of the Economic . . .