Employers are relying less on high-deductible health insurance plans

• Only 25% of firms will offer them as the only option next year, which is 14 percentage points less than two years ago.

Employers say that offering plans with no or lower deductibles can be a recruitment tool, and some employees would rather have higher premiums in exchange for more predictable health care costs.

Yes, but: High deductible plans are still popular; 58% of employees with health coverage worked at a company that offered at least one high-deductible plan in 2019, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Our thought bubble: The push of health care costs onto employees via their out-of-pocket costs has been unpopular and untenable, and employers are responding.

• Also untenable: The rising overall cost of employer health care.

Go deeper:

• Employers' health care crisis will only get worse
• Employer health plans are getting pricier and skimpier