Health-insurance costs are climbing at the steepest rate in years, walloping businesses and their workers, the Wall Street Journal reported. Costs for employer coverage are expected to surge around 6.5% for 2024, according to major benefits consulting firms Mercer and Willis Towers Watson. Willis Towers Watson projects the increase will be the biggest in more than a decade. Such a boost could add significantly to the price tag for employer plans that already average more than $14,600 a year per employee, driving up health-insurance costs that are among the biggest expenses for many American companies and a drain on families’ finances. For people who have individual insurance plans sold under the Affordable Care Act, premiums are also expected to rise by about 6% next year, according to public insurance filings analyzed by health-research nonprofit KFF, though that increase is comparable to this year’s.
