Employer-sponsored health plans will likely see premiums increase by an average of 6.5% in 2023. The main driver? A shortage of health care employees, notably nurses. This is forcing health systems to pay more to current employees and offer more to recruit hard-to-find professionals.
The word comes from Fitch Ratings, based upon reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, McKinsey and Co., and Aon. Analyzing these disparate sources, Fitch forecasts that providers would pass on the increase in spending to insurers, which in turn will offload them to their clients.
After a slowdown in premium escalation for this year's coverage (average 3.7% hike), the pandemic-fueled provider labor shortage will hit plan sponsors (and members) next year. Fitch says the BLS report that health system labor costs grew 25% between 2019 and 2022.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
