According to the latest MillimanMedical Index, the average American in pays $6,553 for care, and afamily of four pays $28,653. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Health care costs rose 4.1% from 2019 to 2020, although theCOVID-19 pandemic could create many uncertainties, according to theMilliman Medical Index, released thismonth.

The MMI, which measures annual health care costs for individualsand families with employer-sponsored preferred provider plans,found that the average American in 2020 paid $6,553, and ahypothetical family of four, $28,653.

"There's been a lot more pressure to keep costs under control,"said Chris Girod, principal and consulting actuary at Milliman, anda co-author of the report. "Health insurance companies and plansponsors are doing lots of things to help control unnecessaryutilization or removing wasteful services from the system."

Related: Higher health care prices correlate to lowerutilization of care

The cost increase is moderate when compared to rates a decadeago but still outpaces growth in the gross domestic product,according to the report. The MMI looks at five health care costspaid for by employees and employers: inpatient and outpatient care,pharmacy, physician services and other services. Hospital costs,which rose 15% in the past three years, have increased faster thanother expenses.

The report did not calculate costs tied to COVID-19, whoseimpact depends on the length of the pandemic, how much people deferhealth care and how many employees lose their employer-sponsoredcoverage.

"Nobody knows for sure, obviously, because there's a lot of thisyear left, and a lot of uncertainty," Girod said. "But some of themore recent predictions Milliman has done suggest the savings, orcost reductions, from deferred care, will tremendously outweigh anycost increases due to COVID testing and treatment. The costs forthis year in total will probably be lower than they otherwise wouldbe without COVID."

For the first time, the report estimated that better managementand operations in the health care system could reduce costs by 25%,lowering a family's annual cost to $21,490.

"This has been highlighted, or the focus of attention for somepeople, particularly as we've run into the COVID crisis andhospital constraints," Girod said. "Some of those capacityconstraints could be mitigated if we operated at greater levels ofefficiency."

Read more: 

• Study: High prices still the cause of ridiculoushealth care spending
• 14 strategies employers can use to lower healthcare costs
• Cost control depends on what's driving health careprices in your region