NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Slashed health care coverage and frozen wages were the hallmark of the recession -- at least for those who held onto their jobs. Yet even though the economy has improved, many of the employee benefits that were once guarantees are starting to look like a thing of the past.
Over the past five years, 40% of working adults have seen their employer-sponsored benefits reduced or eliminated entirely, according to a survey by the National Endowment for Financial Education, or NEFE.
An overwhelming majority, or 72%, of those who saw their benefits cut said their health insurance coverage was hardest hit, NEFE said. As employers cut back, employees shouldered more costs, including higher deductibles and co-pays, as well as more expensive premiums.
This year, workers' out-of-pocket costs rose 5.8% to an average of $3,470 for a typical family of four, according to data compiled by independent actuarial and health care consulting firm Milliman Inc.
By 2017, cost and competitive pressures are expected to prompt more than 50% of large Fortune 1000 organizations toward dropping health care coverage altogether, according to a recent study by the Corporate Executive Board, a Washington, D.C.-based research firm.
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