The cost curve is bending because of increased provider engagement, more effective provider contracting, value-driven plan design and spillover effects from public program initiatives. (Photo: Shutterstock)
There is good news and bad news for the average American family's health care costs, according to the 2018 Milliman Medical Index.
The good news: The cost of health care for a typical American family of four receiving coverage from an employer-sponsored preferred provider plan will rise by just 4.5 percent this year, the eighth year in a row that the annual rate of increase has been lower than the average 7.4 percent rise for all of the 18 years that the index has been measured. Only last year was lower, at 4.3 percent, but this year's index shows that as the MMI's dollar amount continues to grow, the rate at which it grows is clearly slowing.
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Katie Kuehner-Hebert
Katie Kuehner-Hebert is a freelance writer based in Running Springs, Calif. She has more than three decades of journalism experience, with particular expertise in employee benefits and other human resource topics.
