Health care costs are predicted to rise by 10.6 percent in 2009, but this increase represents the smallest Aon Consulting has seen in the past six years. Aon?s survey shows that employer efforts to reduce costs, such as wellness and disease management programs, may actually be working. Most employees, buoyed by employer programs, will likely see only about a 6 percent increase in costs next year. However, some fear that the decline in costs has begun to bottom out.
See "Health care costs seen rising 10 percent in 2009", Tom Murphy, San Francisco Chronicle, August 10, 2008