Believe it or not, New Yorkers, your health benefits got a little bit cheaper last year. Unfortunately, they’re still among the costliest in the country.
The average single-coverage premium for private-sector employer-provided insurance across the state dipped by 4 percent in 2016, to $6,614, according to federal survey data published Friday. Nationwide, the average single premium climbed almost 3 percent, to $6,101.
New York’s single premiums were the 5th highest in the country, down from second highest for 2015.
The state’s average premium for employer-provided also declined by 1 percent, to $19,375. Nationwide, family premiums were up 2 percent to $17,710.
Meanwhile, the percentage of private employers offering health benefits in New York dropped to 44 percent, down from 49 percent last year and 60 percent a decade ago. With the uninsured rates dropping both in the state and nationwide, the trend suggests a dramatic shift to government-sponsored health care – especially through the Medicaid program for the low-income and disabled, which now covers one in three New Yorkers.
These statistics, gathered by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, focus retrospectively on the cost of health insurance provided by employers. They should not be confused with non-group premiums available through the state’s Obamacare exchange, the New York State of Health. Those prices increased by 7 percent in 2016 and 17 percent in 2017, and look to be heading for another double-digit hike in 2018.
About the Author
You may also like
Cuomo Hits Snooze On Raises As Locals Must Keep Paying
Governor Cuomo is again postponing pay raises for state employees—giving himself a little more budgetary breathing room without providing similar relief for local governments or school districts. Read More
Most NY State Workers In Line for Pay Raises Next Week
The COVID shutdown left more than a million New Yorkers in line for unemployment benefits, but most New York state employees are in line for pay raises next week. Read More
Sluggish Reopening: NY’s Private Job Count Down 1.1 Million From Pre-Pandemic Level
Six months into the novel coronavirus pandemic, New York State's private-sector employment recovery was the slowest in the 48 contiguous states—and getting slower. Read More
What a New Jersey “Millionaire Tax” Really Means for New York
Hoping to jumpstart a bandwagon effect, advocates of soak-the-rich tax hike proposals in New York State are hyping a tax increase in New Jersey as evidence that New York needs to do the same. Read More
New York State Has Dug Itself Into Its Deepest Hole On Record
"State's Financial Hole Deepens" is the headline on Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's press release accompanying the August cash flow report. Read More
On Measuring School Quality, Education Week Misses the Mark
Education Week’s rankings do not measure what counts. New York’s substandard achievement coupled with highest-in-the-nation spending and above-average wealth means that when it comes to school quality, New York fails to pass the mark. Read More
State Forces School Districts To Give Raises—And Layoffs
Months of bad decisions and inaction by New York state officials have put school districts in the awkward position of having to give pay raises to most teachers while laying off others. Read More
Even After Aid Cut, New York Will Spend Most on Education
If New York was a country in 2016—the most recent year for global education spending data—it would have boasted the highest per pupil expenditure in the world, even after subtracting 20 percent of state aid. Read More