- A growing number of employers are levying a surcharge on the spouses of employees who sign up for health care coverage if they are eligible for them in their own workplace.
- The change in spousal benefits is part of a broader effort by employers to look for ways to cut the cost of benefits.
- The average cost of providing health care for a family was $16,351 this year, a 4 percent rise from 2012, according to a survey by Kaiser Health.
- Employees, on average, paid $4,565 of that total.
- 4% don’t allow spouses to join their plans if they have their own employee-sponsored health care benefits.
- Another 8% of companies said they’d follow suit next year.
- On the flip side, experts say that certain types of employers, such as banks, insurance companies, hospitals and companies with large numbers of female workers might find that a spousal surcharge hurts their ability to recruit and retain talent.
Source: Dan Berman at BenefitsPro, Hat Tip: Ryan Kennedy.
