The cost of important health insurance components, like deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, has risen at a more muted pace in recent years.
Employer-sponsored health plans have many moving parts that can affect workers' wallets. For example, workers get premiums deducted from each paycheck. Visiting the doctor generally comes with cost-sharing, like co-payments, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums.to KFF, a nonprofit health-care data provider. They increased by an equivalent amount from 2013 to 2018, but had swelled by 39% from 2008 to 2013.
In 2023, 13% of single workers have an out-of-pocket maximum of less than $2,000, while 21% of these workers have one above $6,000, KFF said. That's hardly changed in the past five years. However, consumers shouldn't necessarily"throw up hands and celebrate," Rae added. Families with multiple dependents trying to meet an annual deductible may be enough to put middle class households in debt, he said.
Choosing the most cost-effective health plan for you generally comes down to picking"only the plan you need," McClanahan said.