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Fall is officially upon us and that means that the health insurance (Ubezpieczenia Olsztyn) open enrollment is in full effect with many employers and health insurance companies. This is when many consumers consider changing or upgrading their health insurance plan packages. For 2012, many consumers will be disturbed to discover higher premiums as they shop around for affordable health insurance. According to Michelle Andrews article on MinnPost.com, premiums will be higher, but not as high of a jump as last year, and dependent coverage specifically may be significantly more expensive than previous years. The good news is that health care reform has set up a framework to make shopping around for health insurance easier thanks to health insurance coverage summaries that group health plans and health insurance companies must provide to customers. Consumers will be able to complete easier side by side comparisons as they face the difficult fact that health insurance premiums are slightly higher. Overall, rates are expected to increase about 5.3% in 2013, to an average of $11,507 per employee. This is a slightly smaller increase than last year based on a survey of midsize to large companies completed by Towers Watson, the benefits consultants. Employees will end up paying a portion of this cost at about $2596 per year. Unfortunately, the higher health insurance premiums quickly get passed on to employees. About 42% of employers said they will be increasing the share employees pay between 1-5%. Another 13% said they will bump up the employee share by 5% or more. This massive jump coupled with higher overall premiums will have the consumer feeling the increase even more than the employers. This is a challenging decision for employers since employees perceive this increase as the employers fault a lot of the time. Benefits are offered through employers as incentives and competitive aspects, but it can get lost when employees are seeing more and more coming out of their net checks each year. Health care reform has definitely been having an effect on health insurance premiums. As of 2010, adult children are allowed to stay on their parents health plans through the age of 26. This has employers scrutinizing their dependent coverage options and deciding how to make the choices more affordable for them as well as employees. Tracy Watts, a partner at human resources consultant Mercer, points out that employers need to balance being competitive with cost effectiveness. Employees can expect to see more dependent-coverage options priced accordingly. You may have more affordable choices, but with less benefits being offered. These changes can be overwhelming for employees as they receive their open enrollment benefit packages. Over the next 3-5 years, employers will be dropping the amount they cover for employees by covering only 75% and 69% for dependent coverage based on a survey from Aon Hewitts 2012 employer health care survey. In 2013, about 38% of employers said they intend to significantly drop their rate of coverage for dependents and spouses, while 29% planned to actually discourage spouses with coverage available some where else from signing up at all. Employees can also expect to see more consumer-driven health plans being offered. About 60% of employers said they offered their employees a consumer-driven health plan last year, which basically means they are linked to an account used to pay medical expenses through a health savings account or a health reimbursement arrangement. These high deductible plans are gaining in popularity and are now the second most common type of plan being offered through companies just behind the PPOs that most people are familiar with. There is the hope that as wellness programs grow and encourage healthier habits, health care costs will be driven down for more affordable premiums. Overall, the easier to understand health plan overviews will give consumers more choice and a better understanding of what they are signing up for. The law will not only require easy-to-read summaries, but insurers must provide health insurance term glossaries to help educate the public on what goes into a health insurance policy. Unfortunately, the policies will not include price despite a push to do so. Benefit comparisons are important though and can greatly simplify the process through straight forward education.