The changing insurance landscape (hint: it’s not in a healthy direction)

Last year marked a four-year low for Americans covered by employer-based health insurance, and a four-year high for those that are uninsured. Gallup notes two reasons for this: “either some workers can no longer afford the rising cost of the health insurance the employer offers or the employer is simply not offering health insurance any longer”.  There are also an increasing number of part-time workers, who are typically ineligible for employer-based health insurance.

Healthcare costs continue to rise, and a 2011 Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage increased to $15,073 in 2011, up 9 percent from 2010.

But fret not!  There are a handful of smart startups in this space, to help you and your employer reign in costs:

• Bloom Health helps employers control their health care spending & helps employees spend their benefit dollars wisely
• Cake Health is a central place for all your healthcare plans online
• Castlight Health enables employers  lower the costs & provides individuals with unbiased pricing and quality information
• Change:Healthcare helps you analyze claims data
• My Health and Money makes shopping for health care easier by centralizing financial information
• Simplee helps with tracking medical expenses & managing health care costs