Figure A
Workers’ health insurance premiums are rising much faster than wages: Average annual earnings of the bottom 90 percent and premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance, 1999–2019
| Average bottom 90% earnings | Family premiums | Single premiums | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | $22,703 | $5,791 | $2,196 |
| 2000 | 23,909 | 6,438 | 2,471 |
| 2001 | 24,692 | 7,061 | 2,689 |
| 2002 | 25,046 | 8,003 | 3,083 |
| 2003 | 25,630 | 9,068 | 3,383 |
| 2004 | 26,314 | 9,950 | 3,695 |
| 2005 | 27,055 | 10,880 | 4,024 |
| 2006 | 28,109 | 11,480 | 4,242 |
| 2007 | 29,145 | 12,106 | 4,479 |
| 2008 | 30,101 | 12,680 | 4,704 |
| 2009 | 29,976 | 13,375 | 4,824 |
| 2010 | 30,273 | 13,770 | 5,049 |
| 2011 | 31,045 | 15,073 | 5,429 |
| 2012 | 31,736 | 15,745 | 5,615 |
| 2013 | 32,328 | 16,351 | 5,884 |
| 2014 | 33,297 | 16,834 | 6,025 |
| 2015 | 34,481 | 17,545 | 6,251 |
| 2016 | 35,083 | 18,142 | 6,435 |
| 2017 | 36,182 | 18,764 | 6,690 |
| 2018 | 37,574 | 19,616 | 6,896 |
| 2019 | 20,576 | 7,188 |
Because we are interested in growth rates of health care costs, and because these growth rates are influenced by price changes, neither of these series are adjusted for inflation; instead, we simply track nominal growth in both measures.
Sources: Data on ESI premiums comes from the Kaiser Family Foundation (2020) Employer Benefits Survey. Data on average annual earnings for the bottom 90 percent are author’s analysis of data from the Social Security Administration 2020, updated using the methods of Mishel and Kroeger 2016.
Previous chart: « Predicted frequency of nonwork political discussions, by union membership and labor market power