Families face rising health insurance costs

New Mexicans spend 13.5% on premiums, deductibles

SANTA FE — Working families are spending a greater share of their paycheck on health insurance premiums and deductibles, according to a study released Thursday by Commonwealth Fund, a health care nonprofit.

On average, premium and deductible costs amounted to $7,388, or 11.5% of median income, in 2018 for the U.S. as a whole, the study said. In New Mexico, the $6,342 that working families spent on average for health care costs represented 13.5% of median income.

Overall, working Americans were only spending 7.8% of median income for out-of-pocket health insurance costs in 2008, the report says. In that year, working New Mexicans were spending 10% of their paychecks on health insurance premiums and deductibles.

“Over the last decade, employer health insurance premiums and

deductibles have grown faster than workers’ wages,” said Sarah Collins, the lead author of the study and Commonwealth Fund vice president for health care. “This is concerning, because it may put both coverage and health care out of reach for millions of people.”

The report used federal data to determine how much workers are paying, on average, in premiums and deductibles. Total premiums and other insurance costs were compared with median household incomes for the under-65 population in each state.

The data revealed that individual employees in New Mexico have been hurt more than families by rising health insurance premium costs. From 2016-18, single employees saw an average annual increase of 9.5% in premium costs in New Mexico, to $1,558, while premiums for family coverage declined by an average of 7% annually to $4,723.

When both groups of employees — those who opted for single coverage and those who elected a family plan — are averaged together, New Mexicans saw a 7.8% decline on average in premium costs from 2016-18, according to Commonwealth Fund.

Single employees in New Mexico are also being hit harder by rising deductible costs than workers as a whole, the report said.

From 2016-18, employees with single coverage experienced an average 11.4% annual hike in deductible costs, while workers as a whole saw a 4.6% average annual increase in deductibles. The study did not break out deductible increases for employees with family plans.