For Most Workers, Health Care Is Business As Usual

Politics aside, employer plans won’t change much.

- Kimberly Lankford

DESPITE WARNINGS THAT

Obamacare would implode if Congress didn’t repeal and replace it, the Affordable Care Act lives on. But even though the Senate couldn’t muster enough votes to dismantle the ACA, the 12 million people who buy health insurance on the exchanges face uncertainty—and several unresolved issues could affect availability and rates.

The vast majority of people—the more than 175 million workers who get health insurance from their employers—can rest easy. They won’t see big changes to their coverage for 2018. Large employers expect average health care costs to rise by 5% in 2018, to $14,156 per family, similar to increases in the past five years, according to the National Business Group on Health. Employers generally cover almost 70% of the cost, leaving employees to pay about $4,400 for family coverage. The spiraling cost of specialty drugs is primarily to blame for the increase.