More employers pushing employees to pay more for health care

(Harrisburg) — Fewer employers are offering health care coverage to workers’ spouses and more employees are paying premiums as part of their coverage.

A survey of midstate companies finds those trends are likely to continue.

A quarter of the companies that responded don’t offer health insurance coverage to spouses if he or she can get coverage at their respective place of employment, according to the Conrad Siegel survey.

That’s a 25 percent increase over last year.

“The employer wants to say, ‘We’re really responsible for our employee. If a spouse is eligible somewhere else, then their employer is quote unquote responsible for them,’” saysRob Glus, consulting actuary with Conrad Siegel.

He says companies are making a purely financial decision.

Glus says employers are also shifting to defined contribution plans, where employees get a set amount to spend on premiums and have to make up the difference as well as parts of any annual increases.

“That expense piece for employers is going up at a rate that they’re almost required, or it becomes a necessity to look at certain benefit changes each year in order to keep that increase in their health care.”

The survey finds 11 percent of the respondents don’t have to pay any premiums, also down from 19 percent in 2010.

More than half of the companies who offered up information have more than 100 employees, and come from a variety of industries.