Group health insurance premiums continue to rise modestly, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust. “I don’t see anything on the horizon that will, at least for now, stop the steady growth we’re seeing in deductibles”.

“Employees are benefiting from stable employer health benefits coverage and modest premium growth”, said Maulik Joshi, president of HRET, an affiliate of the American Hospital Association.

“With deductibles rising so much faster than premiums and wages, it’s no surprise that consumers have not felt the slowdown in health spending”, Kaiser President and CEO Drew Altman in Washington said in a statement.

At the same time, they wrote, a tax on high-cost plans set to take effect in 2018 will probably prompt employers and insurers to seek savings. Not only has the share of workers with deductibles increased sharply since 2010, but so have the size of deductibles. But many employers are making or considering changes to their benefits that could bring significant changes in the coming years. The survey shows that 2015 premiums for family coverage were 4.2 percent higher than in 2014, a rise slightly greater than those of the past couple years.

“If these exchanges succeed, they have the potential to move some of the decision-making about benefits away from employers, which could transform how employees and employers interact over benefits”, the report said. Many companies pair that coverage with accounts that let employees set aside money before taxes for medical expenses.

The Kaiser poll, as it did a year ago , showed limited impact from other aspects of the federal health law on employer coverage.

Health insurance premiums rose just 3.8 percent this year, with workers paying $1,071 of the average $6,251 cost for individual coverage through their jobs, according to the report. Workers at smaller firms face average deductibles of $1836, which is 66% more than the $1105 average paid by workers in large firms.

Businesses continued to pick up the bulk of the cost of health coverage for their workers, paying more than $5,000 on average for a single plan and more than $12,500 for a family plan.

Deductibles have become more common, and gotten bigger. That’s up from 55 percent in 2006 and 70 percent in 2010. But workers bore more of the brunt, with their contribution rising to $4,955, up 83% from 2005. Others credit changes in health coverage and the health-care system, such as higher deductibles. The requirement will apply to employers with at least 50 full-time employees in 2016, though Republicans and Democrats are working on legislation that could alter this so-called employer mandate.

The vast majority of employers with 100 or more fulltime employees – 96 percent – already offer a plan that meets the law’s rules, according to the survey. Four percent also report reducing the number of full-time employees they planned to hire because of the cost of health benefits.

Workers in health plans without an annual deductible also often incurred out-of-pocket costs in the form of co-payments and co-insurance.

Now 81% of workers are in plans with a general annual deductible. A separate Kaiser study last month estimated that no more than 26 percent of employers would be subject to the Cadillac tax in 2018. Although some members of Congress, including Connecticut U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2 District, are pushing to eliminate the tax, as it stands it would require employers to pay a 40 percent tax on any insurance plan costs that exceed set limits.

Commercial painting company Steve Reiff Inc. offers single coverage with a deductible of $5,950.

The survey found little change in the percent of employers’ offering health benefits. It may be time to think more seriously about a third number: out-of-pocket costs. But for chronically ill people whose wages are increasing slowly, such increased cost-sharing could be a new financial strain and even a deterrent to seeking care.