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Employer-sponsored health coverage costs jumped this year. More hikes may be coming_我的网站

A |     The cost of health coverage through work jumped this year, in part because of inflation, according to a survey of U.S. employers.Premiums for both family and single plans climbed 7% after barely rising in 2022, according to a report Wednesday by KFF, a nonprofit that researches health care issues.Later this fall, companies begin their annual coverage enrollment window for 2024, and health care experts say another price hike could be coming.“It’s hard to imagine that there won’t be another year of health care cost increases, at least at the level we’re seeing right now,” said Paul Fronstin, director of health benefits research for the Employee Benefit Research Institute.Employer-sponsored health insurance is the most common form of coverage in the United States. KFF says almost 153 million Americans have it. Companies generally pay most of the premium — 70% or more in many cases.That can soften the impact of price hikes on employees. Coverage costs also are taken out of paychecks before taxes, which helps mitigate the financial pinch workers may feel, noted Fronstin, who was not involved in the KFF study.KFF noted that premiums climbed roughly with wages and inflation. The wider economy has felt those two pressures for more than a year, and now they are starting to affect health care costs, said Gary Claxton, a senior vice president with KFF. He noted that there can be a delay because health care contracts can keep costs stable after prices start rising in other parts of the economy.Fronstin said health care provider consolidation also can drive up care costs, which ultimately affects premiums. He also thinks the U.S. health care system — with its limited capacity to treat people — is still catching up on providing care that was delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic.“There’s only so much room for catch up,” he said. “I don’t believe colonoscopy centers are running 24/7 to catch up.”___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.。    PARIS -- The Louvre Museum in Paris and Versailles Palace evacuated visitors and staff Saturday after receiving bomb threats. The government has put France on high security alert after a fatal school stabbing by a suspected extremist.The Louvre communication service said no one was hurt and no incident was reported. Paris police said officers searched the museum after it received written bomb threats.The former royal palace at Versailles also received bomb threats, a national police spokesperson said. The palace and its sprawling gardens were being evacuated while police examine the area, the spokesperson said.Alarms rang out through the Louvre, a vast space also in a former royal palace Paris overlooking the Seine River, when the evacuation was announced, and in the underground shopping center beneath its signature pyramid.Police cordoned off the monument from all sides, and the underground access, as tourists and other visitors streamed out. Videos posted online showed people leaving, some hurriedly and some stopping to take photos, others apparently confused about what was happening.The French government raised the threat alert level and is deploying 7,000 troops to increase security after Friday's school attack. French authorities say a former student suspected of Islamic radicalization killed a teacher and wounded three other people before being captured.The government is also concerned about fallout in France from the war between Israel and Hamas.The Louvre, home to masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa, welcomes between 30,000 and 40,000 visitors per day.。

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