U.S. workers see higher health costs, less care

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. companies are cutting healthcare costs further amid a continuing sour economy, scaling back benefits and shifting a greater share of the expense to employees.

The findings, published on Thursday, come as the U.S. congressional campaign heats up over the nation's stagnant economic growth and whether recently passed healthcare reforms should be repealed.

Such steps may be keeping the cost of insurance plans down "but it also means employer coverage is less comprehensive," said Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which conducts the annual survey.

"From a consumer perspective, the cost of health insurance just keeps going up faster than wages."

Health insurance in the United States, unlike other industrialized countries, is largely provided by employers. Roughly 157 million people under age 65 receive their care through their workplace.

A survey of more than 3,000 companies earlier this year found 30 percent of employers have reduced the health benefits they offer or increased their workers' share of the cost, while 23 percent said they raised employee premiums.

As a result, employees are paying an average of 14 percent, or about $482, more a year in healthcare costs for a family plan. Workers are seeing higher deductibles that must be met before coverage kicks in and paying a higher share of the overall health plan's costs.

"In 2010, covered workers contributed a greater share of the total premium, a notable change from the steady share workers have paid on average over the last decade," the report said.

At the same time, that premium has been soaring. Since 2000, the average overall cost of health insurance for a family plan has grown by 114 percent to $13,770 in 2010 from $6,438.

Workers' share of such coverage has grown by 147 percent to $3,997 in 2010 from $1,619 in 2000.

Of course, not all companies provide health insurance, and those who have been laid off -- the nation's unemployment rate is now 9.6 percent -- also have to buy their own policy, pay for doctor visits and other care out of pocket, or go without care.

The health law aims to expand access to coverage and help more small businesses offer coverage to their workers, but many of its provisions do not take effect for years.

(Editing by Matthew Lewis)