Increase in employer health insurance costs at 5

Health insurance costs for large employers in Chicago rose 3 percent in 2013, the lowest increase in five years, according to data released Thursday by benefits consultant Aon Hewitt.

The cost of providing coverage per employee this year in Chicago was $10,753, up from $10,434 in 2012 and $9,871 in 2011, the Lincolnshire company found in its latest analysis, which compares cost and benefit data for 516 large U.S. employers that account for $61.2 billion in annual health care spending.

Employers, however, pushed a larger percentage of the burden on to their workers, whose total health care costs jumped 9 percent in 2013, the data show.

Employees' share of health care expenses, which includes contributions to pay for premiums and out-of-pocket costs including co-payments and coinsurance, was $5,135 in 2013, up from $4,715 last year. Workers are expected to shoulder more of the burden in 2014, with their costs expected to rise about 9 percent, to $5,613.

Aon Hewitt's research shows that workers' share of the overall health care premium now stands at 22 percent, up from 18.6 percent a decade ago. Within the past year, 47 percent of employers have raised deductibles and other out-of-pocket responsibilities for employees. Another 43 percent are considering doing so in the next three to five years.

The 3 percent increase for Chicago employers in 2013 is lower than the national average gain of 3.3 percent. It also is the second straight year in which the growth of health care costs slowed among Chicago companies, following a 5.7 percent hike in 2012 and a 9.2 percent rise in 2011.

Tim Nimmer, the chief health care actuary at Aon Hewitt, said the lower rate of premium increases were tied to a protracted period of lower health care spending as a result of the economic recession and other uncertainty surrounding economic conditions and the new health overhaul law.

Aon expects the reprieve to be short-lived, however, with costs expected to rise 6.6 percent in 2014 to $11,466 per employee, mirroring a national trend.

The increases for 2014 are largely the result of new fees and taxes levied on employers and insurance companies as part of the Affordable Care Act, Nimmer said, in a statement.

pfrost@tribune.com | Twitter: @peterfrost