On August 25, Aon Consulting released a survey, which found that 65 percent of employers plan to change their health plans to shift costs to their employees in 2011.  Employers reported plans to use numerous cost sharing techniques including, raising deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket limits.  For 2010, 24 percent of respondents said that their health care costs rose less than 5 percent, 33 percent reported that costs rose 5 to 10 percent, and 18 percent said that costs increased 10 to 15 percent.

From the report:

Aon Consulting surveyed 1,079 employers nationwide in its 2010 Benefits Survey, and found an increase in monthly COBRA* contributions for terminated employees. Specifically, the average monthly cost for employee-only HMO coverage for a terminated worker is $429 this year, compared to $399 for the same coverage in 2009. For employee plus family, the former employee is paying $1,251 a month this year, compared to $1,171 per month last year. As for PPO coverage, the average monthly cost for employee only is $449 in 2010, compared to $439 in 2009, and for employee plus family, the cost tops out at a monthly average of $1,310 this year, versus $1,275 last year. (See attachment for a detailed year-over-year comparison.)