---
title: Why Your Health Care Costs Are Out of Control, in One Graph
description: A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that employee-based health coverage costs have risen dramatically in the last 10 years.
authors:
  - name: Alicia Adamczyk
    url: https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/
    at_money_since: 2015
    articles: 201
    covers:
      - Insurance
      - Banking
      - Business
      - Career Advice
      - Credit Cards
      - Economy and Politics
      - Education
      - Housing
      - Identity Theft
      - Investing
      - Lifestyle
      - Loans
      - Personal Finance
      - Retirement
      - Shopping
      - Taxes
      - Technology
    social:
      - https://x.com/aliciaadamczyk
    former_staff: true
published: '2017-10-05T17:05:36.000Z'
modified: '2024-05-08T04:40:23.000Z'
section: Insurance
tags:
  - deductibles
  - Health Care
word_count: 311
canonical: https://money.com/why-your-health-care-costs-are-out-of-control-in-one-graph/
type: Article
source: structured-blocks
---

> **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/).

![171005-healthcare-deductible-increase](https://img.money.com/2017/10/171005-healthcare-deductible-increase-2.jpg)

Workers with employer-sponsored insurance have seen their deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses rise at a rate far outpacing increases in wages over the past decade, according to a [new analysis](https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/increases-in-cost-sharing-payments-have-far-outpaced-wage-growth/#item-start) from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The report found that the average amount enrollees paid toward their deductible rose a whopping 229%, from $117 to $386, between 2005 and 2015. A separate report from [Kaiser found](https://www.kff.org/health-costs/report/2017-employer-health-benefits-survey/) that the average deductible for people with employer coverage rose from $303 to $1,505 between 2006 and 2017. Premiums are also on the rise.

Wages, on the other hand, rose just 31% on average during the same period, the report notes. In the graph below, you can see how deductible increases have risen over the past decade compared to other types of health care costs.

![Kaiser Family Foundation](https://img.money.com/2017/10/dg0vs.png)
*Kaiser Family Foundation*

Kaiser's report looked at what families paid out-of-pocket for medical services covered by their employer-sponsored insurance plans between 2005 and 2015, based on benefit claims compiled by the Truven MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters Database, which contains claims information on millions of individuals.

What does this mean? Employees are taking on more of the costs for health care and paying more than they did in previous years. 24% of enrollees in employer plans now pay [over $1,000 out-of-pocket each year](https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/who-is-most-at-risk-for-high-out-of-pocket-health-spending/#item-start), compared to 17% who did so 10 years ago.

More and more employers are offering employees high deductible plans, shifting more costs on the individual and his or her family. The rationale behind these plans is that if the employee has to shoulder more of the costs, they will be more selective of the procedures and services they access, bringing overall health care costs down. Plus, they cost employers less.

How do you contain your out-of-pocket costs? While Congress appears to be getting nowhere with bipartisan health care solutions, here are some things you can do to [lower your medical bills](https://money.com/cut-medical-bills-health-care-elisabeth-rosenthal/).

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
      "@id": "https://money.com/why-your-health-care-costs-are-out-of-control-in-one-graph/#breadcrumb",
      "itemListElement": [
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 1,
          "name": "Home",
          "item": "https://money.com"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 2,
          "name": "Insurance",
          "item": "https://money.com/insurance/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 3,
          "name": "Health Insurance",
          "item": "https://money.com/health-insurance/"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ListItem",
          "position": 4,
          "name": "Why Your Health Care Costs Are Out of Control, in One Graph"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebSite",
      "@id": "https://money.com/#website",
      "url": "https://money.com",
      "name": "Money",
      "publisher": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#organization"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "@id": "https://money.com/why-your-health-care-costs-are-out-of-control-in-one-graph/#webpage",
      "url": "https://money.com/why-your-health-care-costs-are-out-of-control-in-one-graph/",
      "name": "Why Your Health Care Costs Are Out of Control, in One Graph",
      "isPartOf": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/#website"
      },
      "datePublished": "2017-10-05T17:05:36.000Z",
      "mainEntity": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/why-your-health-care-costs-are-out-of-control-in-one-graph/"
      },
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "breadcrumb": {
        "@id": "https://money.com/why-your-health-care-costs-are-out-of-control-in-one-graph/#breadcrumb"
      },
      "dateModified": "2024-05-08T04:40:23.000Z"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Article",
      "headline": "Why Your Health Care Costs Are Out of Control, in One Graph",
      "articleSection": "Insurance",
      "image": [
        {
          "@type": "ImageObject",
          "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/10/171005-healthcare-deductible-increase-2.jpg",
          "width": 2523,
          "height": 1681,
          "caption": "171005-healthcare-deductible-increase"
        },
        {
          "@type": "ImageObject",
          "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/10/dg0vs.png",
          "width": 800,
          "height": 471
        }
      ],
      "author": [
        {
          "@type": "Person",
          "name": "Alicia Adamczyk",
          "url": "https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/",
          "@id": "https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/#author",
          "image": "https://img.money.com/2016/01/alicia-headshot-2.jpg?quality=85&w=640&h=640&crop=1",
          "email": "alicia.adamczyk@moneymail.com",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://x.com/aliciaadamczyk"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization",
      "datePublished": "2017-10-05T17:05:36.000Z",
      "description": "A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that employee-based health coverage costs have risen dramatically in the last 10 years.",
      "abstract": "A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that employee-based health coverage costs have risen dramatically in the last 10 years.",
      "@id": "https://money.com/why-your-health-care-costs-are-out-of-control-in-one-graph/",
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "dateModified": "2024-05-08T04:40:23.000Z",
      "wordCount": 311,
      "keywords": [
        "deductibles",
        "Health Care"
      ],
      "about": [
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Insurance",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurance"
          ]
        },
        {
          "@type": "Thing",
          "name": "Health insurance in the United States",
          "sameAs": [
            "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_insurance_in_the_United_States"
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```