Mercer, an HR consulting and investment firm, recently reported that and employer sponsored PPO insurance plan’s averge deductible is now $1,000. That has doubled since last year. $500 was the average from 2001 up to 2007, in 2000 it was $250.

So why are group health insurance deductibles increasing? There were a few key points to this increase, says the report. The first was that health care cost for employers went up by 6 percent for the last four years. That’s led to a near-nationwide trend of cost shifting to employees through higher deductibles and higher premiums.

Another reason is the popularity of high deductible consumer directed health plans and Health Savings Accounts being on the rise. 20 percent of large businesses are offering these now. This is, in reality, another form of shifting hte cost down to workers, making them pay higher deductibles and more out of pocket.

Of course, HSAs and similar plans have great advantages. You save money by them being tax free, as well as continuing to have major medical.

These sorts of plans are usually best for people who don’t need medical care too often. In the end, though, if deductibles go up, our purses get smaller.