By Natalie Krebs (Radio Iowa)

A study finds the average rate of family premiums for health insurance offered by private employers in Iowa has risen significantly.

The report from the State Health Access Data Assistance Center at the University of Minnesota found the average premium rate for Iowa families jumped about nine percent from 2020 to 2021, while the national average is only three percent.

Robert Hest, a research fellow at the center, says Iowa’s relatively small population may be a factor.

Hest says, “It’s also kind of a statistical thing where, because there’s a smaller sample size in Iowa, that those estimates just tend to be less stable over time than you would see in a state with a larger population and a larger sample size.”

Iowa has nearly three-point-two million residents, ranking it the 31st most populous state in the U-S.

“Because there’s a smaller population, it doesn’t take as many employers, large employers to make changes to the types of plans they’re offering, or to the cost of those plans to really swing these statistics,” he says.

The report found about 87-percent, or one-point-two million Iowans, who work in the private sector were offered employer-sponsored insurance last year.