Health Care Costs
Nationally, health care costs are at an all-time high. The dramatic escalation in health care costs is putting additional financial pressure on the railroads. Class I railroads paid about $1.5 billion in 2009 to provide health care benefits, nearly double the total cost in 1999 [1]. Without any changes in the current plan, by 2014 railroads will pay a projected $2.4 billion to provide health care coverage – that’s a 65% increase [2].
Health Care Benefits
Railroad employees receive one of the richest health care packages in the nation.
- In 2009, Class I railroads paid about $1.5 billion to provide health care benefits to their employees, nearly double the total cost of $870 million in 1999 [3].
- Railroads in 2009 paid about $11,477 per employee for family medical, dental and vision coverage or about 85 percent of the total cost [4]. In contrast, in 2009, U.S. firms paid about 73 percent of the total cost of family coverage [5].
- Railroad employees’ share of health care premiums averaged about $2,029 in 2009 [6]. That compares with the $3,515 that American workers on average contributed in 2009 toward the cost of premiums for family health care coverage [7].
- Most railroad employees pay no deductible for family health care coverage [8]. In contrast, most American workers pay $500 or more in deductibles for family coverage [9].
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, Employer Health Benefits 2009 Annual Study
Wages
Railroad workers receive a generous wage-and-benefits package, putting them among the nation’s most highly compensated workers.
- The average rail employee’s compensation is higher than the average compensation of 91 percent of all U.S. workers [10].
- In 2008, the average U.S. freight railroad employee earned $78,026 in wages and another $24,148 in benefits, for total compensation of $102,175 [11].
- Rail workers rank 12th out of 57 industries in compensation – and ahead of employees in other heavily unionized industries [12].
Source: Department of Commerce, 2008 Wage Compensation Data