Premiums for family health plans hit $15,745

President Obama signs the health care law / Pete Souza

(AP) WASHINGTON - It sounds like good news: Annual premiums for job-based family health plans went up only 4 percent this year.

But hang on to your wallets. Premiums averaged $15,745, with employees paying more than $4,300 of that, a glaring reminder that the nation's problem of unaffordable medical care is anything but solved.

The annual employer survey released Tuesday by two major research groups also highlighted another disturbing trend: employees at companies with many low-wage workers pay more money for skimpier insurance than what their counterparts at upscale firms get.

Overall, "it's historically a very moderate increase in premiums," said Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which conducted the survey with the Health Research & Educational Trust.

He quickly added: "But even a moderate increase feels really big to workers when their wages are flat or falling." The rise in premiums easily outpaced workers' raises and inflation.

Following a 9-percent hike in premiums last year, the 2012 increase quickly became fodder for the political debate. Republicans said President Barack Obama's promises to control health care costs ring hollow in light of the findings.

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But the most significant cost-control measures in Obama's law have yet to take effect, and the president's big push to cover the uninsured doesn't start until 2014. Those cost measures include a new tax on the most expensive insurance plans and a powerful board to keep Medicare spending manageable.

Trying to head off critics, the administration issued a report that estimates consumers have saved $2 billion as a result of the health care law. That's due to a combination of insurance rebates for employers and individual policy holders, as well as closer state oversight of proposed rate increases, facilitated by Obama's law.

Still, the Kaiser survey shows premiums for job-based family coverage have risen by nearly $2,400 since 2009 when Obama took office, with a corresponding increase of nearly $800 for employee-only coverage.

Most independent experts say that reflects underlying problems with the health care system that have frustrated policymakers of both parties for years, not to mention corporate benefit managers.

Indeed, only last week an arm of the National Academy of Sciences estimated that about 30 cents of every dollar spent on health care $750 billion a year is wasted through unnecessary procedures, cumbersome paperwork, uncoordinated care and fraud.

Obama says he's working to make health care more affordable for all by leveraging the power of government programs like Medicare to pay hospitals and doctors for quality results, rather than sheer volume of tests and procedures. But that will take time.

Republican Mitt Romney wants to give future retirees a fixed amount of money to pick either private insurance or a government plan modeled on Medicare. He expects the private market will find ways to deliver quality service at lower cost. The GOP approach mirrors the shift away from traditional pensions, which pay a standard benefit, to 401(k) savings plans that limit the employer's exposure.

The Kaiser/HRET survey found that employee-only coverage went up 3 percent this year, with annual premiums averaging $5,615. Companies usually pick up a larger share of the cost for employee-only coverage, so workers typically paid about $950 of that.

Employer-based coverage, the mainstay for working people and their families, remained stable this year, with 61 percent of all companies offering health benefits. However, only half of companies with 3 to 9 workers offered health insurance, while virtually all large firms with 1,000 or more employees did so.

Companies continued shifting costs to their workers, but at a somewhat slower pace. A trend toward steering employees into plans with high annual deductibles eased a bit. The deductible is the amount you must pay each year before insurance kicks in. The survey found that 34 percent of workers are in plans with annual deductibles of at least $1,000 for single coverage, up from 31 percent in 2011.

"We don't know if it's a timeout, or if it's reached some natural limit," said Altman. "It's really something to watch for in the future because (high deductible plans) have an impact both on people's budgets and on holding down overall costs."

The survey's focus on health insurance provided to lower-wage workers highlights one of the major areas of uncertainty around Obama's health care law.

If the president is reelected and the law goes into full effect, employers with lots of low-wage workers may be tempted to drop coverage and send their employees into new state-based insurance exchanges, markets that will offer taxpayer-subsidized private insurance. A separate survey this summer by the Mercer benefits consulting firm found that 9 percent of employers in the retail and hospitality industries say it's likely they will drop coverage, even if they have to pay penalties to the government.

The survey found that workers in lower-wage companies pay $4,977 toward the cost of family coverage, as compared to an average of $4,316 for all workers. And the policy they get for their money is less generous, typically worth about $1,000 less.

"They are really paying more and getting less," said Altman. "That may not be surprising, but it is a striking finding."

Although employers and government are doubling down on efforts to keep health care costs manageable, most experts believe the sluggish economy provides the likeliest explanation for the moderate rise in premiums. Last year's spike is being blamed on a mistaken bet by insurers that the economy would recover faster.

The survey includes more than 2,000 small and large employers. Asked what kind of increase they're expecting for 2013, employers said their best estimate at this point is 7 percent sure to prompt more pain.

[SkepticalMom]

After a job loss, we carried on with COBRA and HIPPA until our annual family premium hit $20,000 + a $5000 deductible for virtually no useful coverage and terrible customer service. The insurance companies have gotten GREEDY, jacking up rates in anticipation of the market regulation that will occur in 2014. Let us hope it's their last hurrah.

[Bubba1212]

All insurance should be regulated would mean lower cost and same coverage

[marcie10000]

Thank GOD for ObamaCare! A 56 year old person, laid off, uninsurable since they are 56 years old and have pre-existing everything, will not longer have to decide to raid their retirement funds they've saved for the last 40 years and sell their house versus leaving some college funds for their kids. Thank GOD for President Obama!

[vicargeneral]

Yesssss..... thank you ObamaCare!

[aintfakin]

quit lying
republican negotiation during the congressional debate delayed most of the Obama care provisions until 2014. they just obstruct and then turn around and blame.

[robbyr1955]

And the Romney plan? Let the market work. Let the big hospital chains pay their CEOs 500 times as much as the average American. Let Big Pharma charge us 4 or 5 times as much for the same drugs as Europeans or Canadians. Squeeze the doctors. Continue to allow the insurance companies to decide whether you live or die. Don't allow Medicare or Medicaid to negotiate drug prices. Let Medicare pay 2 to 3 times as much the insurance PPO plans pay for services (anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar).

[venusvegasvada]

Got that right.

Wasn't it last year they reported the top, highest paid CEO's on the planet were health care/insurance companies. 1-2-3. The top guy sucked up over 140 million dollars. For one year. Not including his bonuses. That's compared to the average American CEO's pay of only a measly 8 million a year. Heck, these health care guys make a regular CEO look like Wallmart greeters.

Oh, and by the way, you know they are pouring money into the GOP. I wonder why?

[hypnotoad72]

The market would enslave its own mother to pocket any difference as profit...

The market is sleazy and anti-worker, so why people are surprised more people are against big business... especially when they get the bailouts on top of subsidies and the workers don't...

And you're right - insurance companies are the death panels...

[venusvegasvada]

If the American worker's pay had gone up 4% a year over inflation, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

If American Corporation's and their shareholders hadn't been so greedy we wouldn't be having this conversation.

24-32 Trillion hidden in offshore bank accounts by the Rich.

The average American CEO's pay has gone up over 700% since the 1960's. The Average US worker hasn't even kept up with inflation.

We are out of balance and have been for many decades. Time to rebalance the scales.

Thank goodness they passed Obamacare and got that done before the Norqiust controlled GOP shut down the Govt. It's a start.

[Lerianis4]

Agreed on the 'out of balance'. We are to the point where the rich are going to start having to worry about having their greedy ass heads on pikes LITERALLY unless they start giving people legitimate living wages.

In fact, it's past time in my opinion to have some violent revolution in America against the rich and corporations who are bleeding the poor and middle class more dry each and every day.

[realtimecoffee]

Naw Lerianis4, they'll just move to Barbados and take their money with them. After the cities burn they'll return and buy up the real estate cheap. It's what people deserve for getting so dependent on other people's money in the first place.

[fiberglass3]

The republican'ts STRIPPED the public option from the Affordable Care Act! Weren't you paying attention when the republican'ts said they weren't going to cooperate, just obstruct? Weren't you around when they said they were not going to negotiate, just take? You cannot go through life with blinders on for crying out loud!

The public option would have saved average people like you and me THOUSANDS a year!

YOUR beloved republican'ts had you believing it was socialism and socialism is BAD! Then they high-fived the health insurance companies and collected their big donations!

You are being used. The republican't party has proven through its actions that they only work for the big money. And that's not you.

[Lerianis4]

Bingo, fiberglass3. The Republicans should have allowed the public option (buying into Medicare) to go forward. That would have given some REAL competition to these health insurance companies that are doing backroom deals in order to keep health care costs high.

[JWinATL]

The public option was removed by Democrats. I guess you forgot that Republicans were locked out of the design of ACA. Keep on blaming Republicans for every failure of your Messiah and his posse. And, just HOW would the public option save thousands? Tell me? Do you know anything about Medicare, Lerianis4? Obviously NOT.

[Dancing-in-the-Streets]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8SiheO7XlQ

THIS is why we fight for healthcare!

[sepa2]

in the meantime doctor earnings are about four times that of professionals with comparable training component

[Lerianis4]

Big deal, ROCKY. The costs if your doctor makes a mistake are far far more than that, especially if they knowingly make a mistake because they are looking at $ signs.

[TJphoto]

Congress has a wonderful Health Care Plan for themselves, 70% of it is subsidized by us the taxpayers. They make $174,000 per year. They have no incentive to do anything except take campaign cash from the health care industry.

[kroguej]

Yeah, the private sector is working great for medical care, lets not mess with it. sarcasm by the way

How is a family making $50,000 a year or so, suppose to afford $15,000?