Part of the increase in deductibles is the increasing number of employers who are offering high-deductible health plans paired with health savings accounts, Kaiser said. High-deductible plans typically have significantly lower premiums than other types of plans.
Just over half of employees this year have a health insurance policy with a deductible of at least $1,000, according to a survey of employers from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The survey also found that the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, is having no effect at driving up employer health insurance costs, and that few companies are changing their employers' hours as a result of ACA requirements.
Annual premiums for family coverage under employer-sponsored health plans rose an average of 3 percent this year, slightly less than last year's 4 percent increase, continuing a slowdown in rate increases over the last 15 years, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey.
Historically, that's not much of an increase. The trend, in his opinion, can be "both good and bad", but either way it is a significant shift in the American healthcare system.
Even though the ACA tends to get the blame for changes in employer-provided insurance, Altman says he doesn't think the amount and prevalence of deductibles - or higher costs borne by workers - are related to the law.
Covenant Care, a Pensacola, Fla. -based hospice and home health care nonprofit, is one organization that has made the switch. This year, 29 percent of all workers are in high-deductible plans, up from 17 percent five years ago, the survey said. That is why Altman said that despite the overall moderation in costs, "it doesn't feel that way to average people".
Among employers with 10 to 49 employees, 66% offered health benefits this year, down from 76% in 2012.
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Despite the slowing in premium growth, these monthly insurance payments have increased four times faster than income since 1999, the survey showed. To cover claims, insurance companies have had to raise premium rates substantially, including planned increases of 20 percent or more next year.
"Your typical employer is using everything in the toolkit to control their premiums", he says. Delaney said about two-thirds of the employees participate in the wellness program, which has been offered for three years. They try to help workers manage their chronic illnesses.
The average family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose at a mediocre 3 percent aided by rise in the deductibles. But Pauly says the ACA has likely influenced employers' decisions to shift to higher deductibles plans.
"I would say no one goes there lightly", he says. The new plan has an individual deductible of $1,500, with an out-of-pocket maximum of $3,000, and he said that more than a third of the company's roughly 1,500 US employees switched over - more than expected.
In some cases, employers make contributions to tax-preferred HSAs or HRAs, which workers can use to pay part or all of their deductible expenses, thereby reducing their effective deductible.
The company will pay $500 toward a $1,000 deductible if employees undergo a health risk assessment each year.
"We believe we'll have that kind of overall reduction in our health care costs", he says.
A separate study released earlier this week found a markedly different pattern of health care use between people on high-deductible plans, compared with traditional plans. "If you're making $30,000 a year, a $1,000 deductible is a big deal". The law's employer mandate was fully implemented in 2016, and nearly all employers with more than 50 workers said they offer ACA-compliant coverage to full-time employees.
