What Is the Average Cost for Family Health Insurance in Pennsylvania?

Health insurance costs have been skyrocketing across the nation, and Pennsylvania is no exception. Between 2000 and 2006, the average cost of an insurance premium for a family rose from $6,721 per employee in 2000 to $11,801, according to a report by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. In many cases, employers and employees share the cost of the premiums.

Single Premium

• According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the cost for a premium for a single person in Pennsylvania rose from $3,671 to $4,317 between 2004 and 2007. About 58 percent of those with health insurance are in employer-sponsored plans.

2008 Costs

• According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the average cost of a health insurance premium for a single person in Pennsylvania in 2008 was $4,499. About 10 percent of premiums cost less than $3,000. Half cost less than $4,400 and 90 percent less than $6,100.

Employee Share

• About 10 percent of Pa. workers aren't asked to contribute to health insurance premiums.

  According to the AHRQ, the average cost to employees in Pennsylvania for those single-coverage premiums was $852 for a single person in 2009. About 10 percent of people with employer-sponsored plans paid nothing. About 25 percent of people paid $240 or less and 75 percent of people paid less than $1,200. About 10 percent of people paid more than $1,800. The average cost to employees for family coverage was $2,971.

National increases

• Nationally, average health insurance costs for family coverage rose from $5,719 in 1999 to $13,375 in 2009. For single coverage, premiums rose from $2,196 to $4,824. Again, those costs are for an entire policy. Employers and employees, in most cases, share those costs.

Data Limitations

• According to the National Conference on State Legislatures, state-by-state data on health care costs tends to be scarce. No federal agency regularly releases it on an annual basis.

Deductibles, Out-of-Pocket Costs and Co-Pays

• In addition premiums, workers are often asked to pay a portion of their medical costs when they use services. These vary greatly, according to the plan offered by a particular company. Some insurance plans offer lower premiums, but workers must pay up front before the insurance begins to pay. In these high deductible plans, workers in Northeastern states such as Pennsylvania paid an average deductible of $1,765 per year in 2010, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Workers with an HMO plan had an average of deductible of $693. Co-pays, or flat fees paid for medical services such as doctor's visits, have also been rising. In 2004, 19 percent of insurance plans featured $10 co-pays for visits to the doctor, compared to just 7 percent in 2010. Similarly, 3 percent of plans had co-pays of $30 in 2004. In 2010, that number reached 15 percent.