Average US health care plan cost is $6,881 per employee

The USA's United Benefit Advisors, an alliance of 142 of the nation's premier independent benefit advisory firms, has released the results of its third annual employer-sponsored health plan benchmark survey.

Among the survey's numerous findings:

- the average annual health plan cost per employee is $6,881 (medical-only coverage), with an average employee cost of $3,110 and an average employer cost of $3,771 per employee; - average premiums for all plans were $347 for single coverage and $848 for a family (a weighted average of all non-single coverages); - 32.7% of all plans required no employee contributions, and 8.3% required no family contributions. Of plans requiring contributions, employees contributed an average of 26.6% of premium or $90 for single coverage and 46.8% or $385 for family coverage; and - average premiums increased 7.2% for all plans (after any plan adjustments) versus 8.6% last year.