A study by New York based consulting firm Mercer has said that health care costs are set to rise by 5.7% in the year 2009. This would follow 2007's 6.1 % hike in health care and this year's estimated 5.7 % increase.

Nearly 60 % of companies surveyed by Mercer said they planned to pass the brunt of the ever-increasing insurance costs to their employees by rising the percentage of the premiums the latter have to pay and may also put a new cap on out-of-pocket reimbursements for employees. The average deductible for an individual person grew from $250 to $400 between 2003 and 2007, while for the average American family, it increased from $1,000 to $1,500.

Mercer said that while the rate of increase is smaller when compared to double-digit growth the past years prior to 2005, its increase is faster than inflation rate or salary adjustments.

The U.S. Census Bureau, in a recent study, said the number of Americans without health insurance decreased in 2007 for the very first time and the study showed that 45.7 million Americans were without the cover of health insurance. This decrease was said to be due to the government-sponsored health insurance, such as Medicaid, or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, as well as the rising costs of private health insurance, and fewer employees are able to offer insurance benefits.

Blaine Bos, author of the study and senior Mercer health and benefits consultant said, "While some employers are holding down cost growth with innovative methods of improving health care quality and efficiency, more typically employers struggling with increases they can't handle resort to the tried and true method of shifting cost to employees."