The next health insurance cost crunch

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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**Kimberly Adams** (0:31)
How companies are responding to the rising cost of health care.
From Marketplace in Washington, I'm Kimberly Adams. Employer-sponsored health insurance plans are poised to get more expensive next year. Insurance broker Aon says they'll rise 9.5% to an average of more than $19,000 per employee. Companies typically shoulder about 80% of that burden, but workers will likely pay more too. Marketplace's Nova Safo has more.

**Nova Safo** (0:58)
The cost of employer-provided health insurance has increased by near double-digit percentages for four years in a row. That's according to Aon's Toder Pennev.

**Toder Pennev** (1:08)
Health care follows the trend rates in the general economy, sometimes with one or two year lag, right? So if inflation was very high two, three years ago, health care inflation is high now.

**Nova Safo** (1:18)
As in previous years, employers won't shoulder the cost increases alone, says Larry Levitt, Executive Vice President for Health Policy at KFF.

**Larry Levitt** (1:28)
What they end up doing mostly is shifting costs to workers, either increasing their deductibles or limiting benefits in some way.

**Nova Safo** (1:37)
Levitt says the average deductible is now about $1,900 per person. And Jeff Levenschertz at insurance broker Willis Towers Watson says employees could see benefits limited in a number of ways.

**Jeff Levenschertz** (1:50)
They might see network limits so that in some instances the highest price hospital system might no longer be in plan.

**Nova Safo** (1:57)
Also, more plans might require prior authorizations and denials of coverage could rise. Levenschertz says these changes often come packaged in new plans, cheaper but with more restrictions. Those who want to maintain the same level of coverage might end up paying more.
I'm Novosafo for Marketplace.

**Kimberly Adams** (2:15)
We're following reports the Trump administration is set to announce new economic measures with the goal of further isolating Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is set to announce the new measures at a press conference this afternoon. And over the weekend, trade talks between the United States and Canada fell flat, resulting in tit-for-tat tariffs from both countries. The US slapped Canada, its second biggest trading partner after Mexico, with 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian imports. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney threatened to impose quote, dollar-for-dollar tariffs on the United States beginning September 8th, but we don't have all the details yet.

**SPEAKER_7** (3:18)
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**SPEAKER_8** (4:18)
Okay, let's get real about health care for a second. I think we can all agree it doesn't always work the way it should. If you've ever waited on a prescription refill or had a hard time getting the care you needed, you know what I mean. The system should just work better for everyone. That's exactly what the people at Optum are trying to do every day. They're a health care company linking patient care and pharmacy services and using data and technology to drive the whole system. So care is connected, not complicated, for patients and providers.
Things like making it easier to get care that looks at the whole person, from primary care doctors to mental health support and even in-home care, and then using technology to make sure they all work together. Technology designed to help doctors spend less time on busy work and more time with their patients. And those prescriptions? Optum is bringing costs down, saving patients money and making it easier to get refills. Little by little, Optum is helping make health care work as one, for everyone. Head to business.optum.com to see how.