Health benefit costs rose at a greater rate in Maryland and Washington, D.C., than in the nation in 2009, new research indicates.

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Total health benefit costs for workers in Maryland and the District increased 7.6% in 2009, to an average of $9,147 per employee, according to the annual Mercer National Study of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans. A total of 93 employers headquartered in Maryland and the District were included in the results.

Nationally, employers’ costs rose by 5.5% last year, the lowest increase in a decade, as large employers added health management programs and small-business owners shifted employees to account-based high-deductible plans, according to Mercer.

Cost estimates for this year

For 2010, survey respondents in Maryland and the District estimated that if they made no changes to their current plan, costs would rise by 9.8%. But they expect to lower their cost increase to 6.1% by making changes to plan design and/or plan vendors, Mercer reported.

Exactly 45% of respondents say they will shift costs to their employees this year by raising deductibles, copays/coinsurance or out-of-pocket maximums. More than one-third (40%) of respondents said they will increase employees’ share of the premium contribution, and 18% will increase employee cost-sharing some other way.

Some means of lowering costs are already in place. In Maryland and the District, 17% of respondents offered a consumer-directed health plan with a Health Savings Account feature and 13% of respondents offered a CDHP with a Health Resources Account feature in 2009.

Exactly 29% of survey participants say they are very likely to offer an HSA or HRA in 2010, including those that already offer a CDHP.

The average employee in Maryland and the District paid $103 a month for employee-only coverage for a PPO/POS plan, $93 monthly for an HMO and $93 monthly for a CDHP, Mercer found.

Nationally, PPO deductibles rose sharply in 2009, with the average individual deductible for in-network services reaching nearly $1,100.

This story originally appeared in the January 2010 print edition of Insurance & Financial Advisor.