Health Care Spending
What is health care spending?
Health care spending is the amount of money UNH spends providing health care benefits to employees and their families. With more than 2,000 employees and 3,300 dependents enrolled in medical benefits offered by USNH, in 2011, UNH will spend more than $50 million on health care benefits.
This graphic shows us that health care spending has increased every year for the last ten years with USNH costs currently at around $60 million annually.
New Hampshire residents have struggled with some of the highest medical costs in the nation. Nationally, the average family health insurance premium in 2010 costs about $14,000. At UNH, the premium for the most commonly chosen family insurance plan is $23,000. Of that $23,000, UNH pays about 80%. Health care spending has doubled over the last 10 years and has moved ahead of retirement benefits as the single largest benefit program at UNH.
Employees can help save money for UNH and USNH by:
- Learning More about Cost Variation
- Using Emergency Rooms Appropriately
- Avoiding Duplicate Radiologic Testing
- Increasing the Use of Generic Drugs
- Becoming a More Educated Health Care Consumer