Annual Healthcare Costs Doubled in Under Nine Years

It has taken less than nine years for healthcare costs to double for the average family of four covered by a preferred provider organization. And there’s more bad news: employers are passing more of the costs on to their employees. The 2011 MMI healthcare cost is $19,393, a 7.3% or $1,319 increase over 2010. The good news is that’s the lowest annual rate of increase in more than a decade. Among the findings: hospital inpatient costs accounted for more than one-third of the $1,319 increase. While utilization was flat, costs per day increased by more than 8% from 2010 to 2011. Inpatient costs totaled $6,068 or 31% of a family of four’s total annual healthcare bill. Increased utilization helped grow the cost of outpatient facility care by 10% to $3,404. The total dollars paid for physician care increased by 4.4% to $6,329. Physician services accounted for one-third of the total cost of care. Pharmacy costs rose by 8% to $2,847. Higher average drug prices accounted for about 75% of the increase with higher usage accounting for just 25% of the increase. Milliman Medical Index 2011