Analyzing data from the National Health Expenditures and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary, a Thomson Reuters report found that employer health care spending rose 7.3 percent in 2009.  The same year, overall U.S. health care spending grew 4.8 percent. According the Thomson Reuters, small employer health care costs rose 9.8 percent, medium-sized employers’ costs increased 10 percent, and large employers’ costs increased 5 percent.

From the report:

During inflation-free 2009, employers experienced a spike in healthcare costs. Average healthcare costs for U.S. employers increased 7.3 percent per capita in 2009, according to an analysis of medical claims data for 144 companies that provided health benefits to 9.5 million individuals from 2007 to 2009. This increase is particularly striking given that the overall U.S. inflation rate, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), declined by 0.4 percent in 2009 — which was the first time since 1955 this index has seen an annual decrease. Employer costs represent one part of the nation’s total healthcare spending. Overall, U.S. healthcare costs grew at a more modest 4.8 percent per capita in 2009, according to National Health Expenditures (NHE) data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Office of the Actuary.

Full report: Health Care Costs Rise More than 7 Percent for U.S. Employers in 2009 (PDF | 1.93 MB)

Thomson Reuters. (2010). Health care costs rise more than 7 percent for U.S. employers in 2009.