Employers' health care costs expected to rise 9 percent - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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The 9 percent projected cost increas e is slightly lower thanthe 9.2 percent increase in 2009 and 9.9 percenrt increase in 2008, according to Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Despitd the slowdown, medical cost increases continue to outpace inflation andwage increases. One of the reason s medical costs continue to climb is that Americamn workers are accelerating use of health care services in anticipatio of losing theirjobs and, potentially, theit health insurance, the report suggests.
Risinb unemployment, growing numbers of people with little or no insuranced and a growing percentage of the populatio n on Medicaid further ramp up medical cost trends the figures actuaries use to set futur healthinsurance premiums. Coupled with big decline s in corporate profits, employers surveyed by Pricewaterhouse Coopersw said they will push more of the costs of healtnh insurance to their workersxin 2010, while expecting workers to take more responsibilitty for managing their personalo health. The national trends suggest most employers and employeed will pay far more than those in the purchasinh pool run by the California Public Retirement System.
The pension fund approvede an overall 2.9 percent increasee in health care premiums for memberwin 2010, the lowest rate hike in 14