New York State Health Foundation Report Finds NY State Premiums Are Among the Highest in the Country
As Albany lawmakers consider imposing costly new taxes and mandates on health insurance, a report from the New York State Health Foundation offers a timely reminder: The state’s premiums are already among the highest in the country, and rising fast.
The foundation’s “data snapshot” analyzes cost trends in the state’s employer-provided insurance market, which is where 56 percent of New Yorkers get their coverage. Among its key points:
- The state’s average family premium in 2016 was the third highest in the country at $19,375. Its average single premium was fifth highest at $6,614.
- From 2008 through 2016, premiums for employer-sponsored plans increased at more than double the rate of the median household income.
- New York’s deductibles, which had been relatively low, leapfrogged the national average in 2016, when the average jumped 36 percent (from $1,317 to $1,789) in a single year
These findings dovetail with a December 2017 report by the United Hospital Fund, which documented a 35 percent drop in New York’s small-group enrollment, from 1.7 million to 1.1 million, over the past decade. This trend, it warned, was “likely exacerbated by rising premiums.” It also makes the goal of universal coverage that much harder to reach...