According to Lincolnshire- based human resources consulting company Hewitt Associates' latest health care trend reports that the residents in the Chicago area will experience a nearly 9% increase of the health care costs beginning next year. They will also have to help rein in employer costs as some of the companies make the workers pick up a bigger portion of the cost of coverage for spouses.

All the health care costs for Chicago employees and employee contributions, including the out-of-pocket money, will rise to almost $3,883 in 2009 from only 3,573 this year, meaning up 8.7%. The average cost per person for the major companies in Chicago will get to 6.2% extra for the $8,651 from $8,147 this year, according to Hewitt.

The human resources consulting company also stated that the employers try to shift more costs to workers, to hardly negotiate with health plans and to expand health and wellness programs that could increase the healthier behavior.

More than 40% of the people working for Hewitt have led audits to try to asses and remove dependents that are not able for coverage based on the employer's eligibility requirements. The goal of the companies is to get spouses to take coverage for their employer’s plan.

Maurissa Kanter, Hewitt spokesman, said that they are seeing companies “do this today.” "In our employer database of 1,180 companies, 9 percent of companies have a spousal surcharge for medical contributions, and we believe the number will continue to increase," she added.