Health Insurance Benefits Cost Increasing More for Some Occupations than Others

Health insurance benefits are among the fastest rising operating costs for employers, causing many job providers to reduce or eliminate employee group health insurance benefits. But the odds of losing employer-provided health insurance benefits could vary by occupation. Some occupations have greater health insurance costs compared to payroll than others, leaving those with higher average costs more at risk for lowing health insurance benefits at work.

Average health insurance costs as a share of payroll for workers with health insurance coverage increased most among laborers/cleaners/helpers, from 10 percent in 1999 to 16 percent in 2005, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Workers in the transportation industry had the next greatest increase, rising from 10 percent in 1999 to 15 percent in 2005.

Although actual relative costs for group health insurance for workers in the laborer/cleaners/helpers occupational category rank lowest, because those jobs typically pay less, the cost of employer-provided benefits relative to payroll is greater for low-pay occupations than for higher-pay occupations. Executive/managerial occupations had the lowest health insurance costs relative to payroll as well as the lowest cost increase, rising from 7 percent in 1999 to 9 percent in 2005.

Other occupations with large health insurance cost increases were transportation, machine operators, service and clerical/administrative support, which increase an average 4 percent to 5 percent from 1999 to 2005. Health insurance costs equaled about 15 percent of payroll costs for transportation, service and clerical/administrative support occupations in 2005. The cost for machine operators was 14 percent.

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