While much of the discussion of health care premiums has focused on the increases slated for plans offered through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, costs are also expected to rise for the tens of millions of Americans covered by employer-sponsored insurance.

A recent survey of 133 large companies by the National Business Group on Health finds that health care costs will increase by an average of 6 percent for large employers. More than a third of those employers will only offer high-deductible plans.

Higher costs for employers and employees are largely being driven by the ever-increasing prices of prescriptions drugs, which are expected to go up 7.3 percent next year. High-price specialty drugs for cancer and other serious conditions are rising even more dramatically: They are expected to go up 16.8 percent next year.