Coverage costs for her company, the Norfolk-based ship agent and broker
T. Parker Host, would increase by just 7.9 percent, despite new
requirements under the national health care overhaul.
It was the company's smallest rate bump since 2005.
"We were very pleased," said Jenkins, who is T. Parker Host's senior vice president for administration.
Many employers, like Jenkins, anticipated big changes as they developed insurance plans for the first time since the passage of the new health law.
For 2011, the law requires coverage for more people and, in many cases, mandates preventive services without extra charge to individuals - benefits that come with a price tag.
However, South Hampton Roads insurers, consultants and employers said the overhaul won't increase rates more than 4 percent next year, largely because many plans already came close to meeting the requirements.
Overall, including other climbing expenses, local group health insurance costs are rising between 6 and 12 percent - a range comparable to recent years, they said.
For employees, that means more of the same.
"What we've seen is a trend where employers continue to offer less benefits and pass on more of the cost to the employees," said John DeGruttola, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Optima Health, the insurance arm of Sentara Healthcare. "It's really just in response to the double-digit medical inflation that occurs and continues to occur."
Several provisions of the health care law take effect for plans renewed after Sept. 23, six months after the legislation was passed.
For many people insured through their employers, these changes will begin in next year's coverage, which workers are now selecting during an open enrollment period. Companies can avoid that and some other mandates by basically freezing their plans as of March. To receive "grandfathered" status, a plan cannot significantly raise employees' responsibility for health costs or substantially reduce benefits. Insurers found that few companies chose this option, though.
Dennis Wance was considering it for his Norfolk-based law firm, Vandeventer Black.
Because of some serious illnesses, health insurance costs would spike next year if his firm chose to grandfather its current plan, he said. However, a new plan probably would mean employees pay a larger portion of their medical bills and receive slightly reduced benefits, he said.
The choice promised to be difficult for a company that prides itself on generous health coverage for its 170 employees.
"These benefits are important," said Wance, the firm's executive director. "That's why we're reluctant to do some of the more draconian things with medical premiums to get the cost down."
In some cases, the new law caused barely a ripple in a company's coverage, especially if its plan already came close to meeting the provisions or if few people qualified for the new coverage.
At T. Parker Host, for example, none of the 56 employees added a new adult dependent, Jenkins said.
Other employers still wrestled with steep increases.
It was the company's smallest rate bump since 2005.
"We were very pleased," said Jenkins, who is T. Parker Host's senior vice president for administration.
Many employers, like Jenkins, anticipated big changes as they developed insurance plans for the first time since the passage of the new health law.
For 2011, the law requires coverage for more people and, in many cases, mandates preventive services without extra charge to individuals - benefits that come with a price tag.
However, South Hampton Roads insurers, consultants and employers said the overhaul won't increase rates more than 4 percent next year, largely because many plans already came close to meeting the requirements.
Overall, including other climbing expenses, local group health insurance costs are rising between 6 and 12 percent - a range comparable to recent years, they said.
For employees, that means more of the same.
"What we've seen is a trend where employers continue to offer less benefits and pass on more of the cost to the employees," said John DeGruttola, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Optima Health, the insurance arm of Sentara Healthcare. "It's really just in response to the double-digit medical inflation that occurs and continues to occur."
Several provisions of the health care law take effect for plans renewed after Sept. 23, six months after the legislation was passed.
For many people insured through their employers, these changes will begin in next year's coverage, which workers are now selecting during an open enrollment period. Companies can avoid that and some other mandates by basically freezing their plans as of March. To receive "grandfathered" status, a plan cannot significantly raise employees' responsibility for health costs or substantially reduce benefits. Insurers found that few companies chose this option, though.
Dennis Wance was considering it for his Norfolk-based law firm, Vandeventer Black.
Because of some serious illnesses, health insurance costs would spike next year if his firm chose to grandfather its current plan, he said. However, a new plan probably would mean employees pay a larger portion of their medical bills and receive slightly reduced benefits, he said.
The choice promised to be difficult for a company that prides itself on generous health coverage for its 170 employees.
"These benefits are important," said Wance, the firm's executive director. "That's why we're reluctant to do some of the more draconian things with medical premiums to get the cost down."
In some cases, the new law caused barely a ripple in a company's coverage, especially if its plan already came close to meeting the provisions or if few people qualified for the new coverage.
At T. Parker Host, for example, none of the 56 employees added a new adult dependent, Jenkins said.
Other employers still wrestled with steep increases.
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