Out-of-pocket costs thatinsured employees pay for a doctor’s visit or an operation in theU.S. keep on climbing.

The average deductible, the amount workers pay for health carebefore insurance kicks in, jumped 13 percent to $1,221 this yearfor individual plans, according to a report published Wednesday bythe Kaiser Family Foundation and the HealthResearch & Education Trust. About 50 percent of employees arein plans that have deductibles of at least $1,000 for individualcoverage, up from 45 percent in 2015.

Rising deductibles haveentered the spotlight recently because they push more of the costsand responsibilities of getting treatment ontoconsumers. Mylan NV’s prices for EpiPen allergy shots gainedpublic attention as mounting deductibles forced increasing numbersof patients to pay the device’s full cost, more than $600 for apair.

“Deductibles are difficult forpeople because the full cost can sometimes be hard to pay,” saidGary Claxton, who oversees the Kaiser survey. “It can be a lot ofmoney when you have things that you need or your kids need.”

Overall, 83 percent of workers are in plans with deductibles,and their numbers have grown steadily over the last decade, from 55percent in 2006. Yet deductibles are just one piece of the healthinsurance spending story. Premiums -- the costs of buying a policy-- have been rising more slowly in recent years, thanks in part tohigher deductibles that may discourage patients from seekingcare.

The trend offers some relief to both employers and workers.Premiums rose just 20 percent since 2011, according to the report.In the five years before that, they grew 31 percent, and from 2001to 2006, family insurance premiums jumped 63 percent.

The prevalence of high-deductible plans has reduced premiumgrowth by about half a percentage point a year in each of the pasttwo years, the study found. Workers pay about 18 percent of theaverage $6,435 premium for an individual plan, and 30 percent ofthe average $18,142 cost of a family plan, the researchersfound.

“Raising your cost-sharing is one way to keep premiums in line,”Claxton said. “Higher cost-sharing has been one of the reasons wethink that premiums are lower.”

Employers say slowed growth in their health-care spending willprobably continue next year, according to preliminary results of asurvey released Tuesday by Mercer, an employee benefits unit of Marsh &McLennan Cos. Employers expect their health-benefit costs to riseby about 4 percent on average next year, about in line with annualincreases since 2014, according to the survey.

More workers are in plans that pair high deductibles with healthsavings accounts that are dedicated to paying medical costs,according to the Kaiser study, with about 29 percent in such plansin 2016, compared to 24 percent last year. These plans have adeductible of at least $1,000 for a single person or $2,000 for afamily, often with a relatively low premium.

A study released Tuesday by the Health CareCost Institute found that workers in high-deductible plans withsavings accounts used less health care services than workers withother insurance coverage, but ended up spending more out-of-pocket.The study didn’t look at premiums, which are often lower forhigh-deductible plans.

The Kaiser study, based on a survey completed by more than 1,900firms, looks at how about 150 million people in the U.S. get theirhealth coverage. Almost all firms with at least 100 workers offerhealth plans, while only half of those with fewer than 49 employeesdo so.

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