U. S. workers with job-based health insurance can expect health-care coverage to climb nearly 9 percent in 2009. The average health cost per person for major U.S. companies will grow from $8,331 in 2008 to $8,863 in 2009, a survey from Hewitt Associates shows.

For the annual study, Lincolnshire-based Hewitt Associates surveyed 400 large employers with more than 13 million employees total. According to the findings, companies’ health-care costs will rise 6.4% in 2009, from $8,331 in 2008 to $8,863 per person, after a 6% percent increase in 2008. Workers will be spending $156 in out-of-pocket costs monthly, which are rising 10.1 percent.

“Employers continue to diligently manage health-care costs through a combination of approaches, including continued cost shifting, tougher negotiations with health plans, and expanded health and wellness programs with incentives to encourage behavior change, which is why we’re seeing rate increases level out a bit,” said Jim Winkler, North American practice leader of Hewitt’s Health Management Consulting business. More companies are increasing co-payments for emergency room visits to $250 or higher as a way to encourage a visit to an urgent-care center, the study says.

The report comes a week after Medicare’s chief actuary Richard Foster stated that he expected 2010 premium rates to rise. But Medicare officials have also announced that 2009 would be the sixth year not to register an increase in the premiums, since the health insurance program began in 1965.

The US Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimated earlier this year that total health care spending would double to more than $4 trillion a year by 2017. The costs have already reached more than $2.1 trillion in 2006, accounting for 16 percent of gross domestic product.