Last week, Ohio’s State Employment Relations Board released its 21st Annual Report on the Cost of Health Insurance in Ohio’s Public Sector (pdf). The Report surveyed public employers in Ohio at all levels of government, including cities, counties, townships, colleges and universities, and school districts, to name just a few of the employer types covered. Over 92% of the public employers surveyed responded.
While the Report goes into considerable detail, some of the more interesting highlights include:
- The average monthly premium for single coverage is $520 and for family coverage is $1,370;
- Those premiums reflect a 2.8% and 2.3% increase, respectively, from 2012 costs;
- In 2013, only 13.2% of single coverage medical plans and 11.3% of family coverage medical plans required no contribution from the employee;
- The average monthly employee contribution for single coverage is $66 and for family coverage is $184, excluding those plans where employees do not have to contribute to the cost of coverage;
- Regional transit authorities recorded the highest average premium among the various employer types in the survey and fire districts reported the lowest; and
- Colleges and universities as well as counties (among others) had average monthly premiums that exceeded the statewide average.
It is important to note that, while the Report was issued last week, the data in the Report is representative of public sector medical insurance plans that were in effect on January 1, 2013.