Ten Things Every Employer Should Know About Healthcare Costs

1. Total national health expenditures, including spending by federal and local governments, private companies, and individuals, was $2.9 trillion in 2013, or about $9,255 per person. 
2. The U.S. population is about 320 million, which makes 2015 the first year healthcare spending will reach $10,000 per person.
3. Health spending is projected to grow 6 percent annually from 2015 through 2023, according to CMS.
4. According to data released by CMS in June, the prices hospitals set for a series of common procedures increased by more than 10 percent between 2011 and 2013. 
5. The average cost per inpatient day in 2013 was $2,289 at nonprofit hospitals and $1,791 at for-profit hospitals.
6. Among nonprofit hospitals, the cost per inpatient day in California was $3,500 — the highest of any state in 2013 — and lowest in South Dakota where the average cost was $1,234.
7. The cost per inpatient day at for-profit hospitals was highest in North Dakota ($3,714) in 2013 and lowest in Maine ($815).
8. In 2015, the cost of healthcare for a typical American family of four receiving health insurance from an employer-sponsored preferred provider plan will increase by 6.3 percent, or $1,456, resulting in a total cost of $24,671. 
9. Out-of-pocket healthcare costs — defined as premiums plus deductibles — accounted for 9.6 percent of median income in 2013, up from 5.3 percent 10 years prior.  
10. The average healthcare cost per employee for large companies was $10,471 in 2013, compared with $10,131 in 2012.  

Source: Becker's Hospital Review, Ayla Ellison, June 10, 2015.