If you want a big-picture look at health benefits, Kaiser Family Foundation's annual Employer Health Benefits Survey is a good place to start.

Allow me to demonstrate with a flurry of numbers.

Premium cost is $5,615/single, 3 percent higher than last year, and $15,745/family, 4 percent higher. Back in 1999, it was $2,196/single and $5,791/family.

Percent of premium paid by employee is 18/single and 28/family. In 1999, those percentages were 14 and 27, respectively.

Plan types for covered workers break down as follows: 56 percent preferred provider organization; 19 percent high-deductible health plans with savings option; 16 percent health maintenance organization; 9 percent point-of-service plans; and less than 1 percent conventional plans. In 1988, it was 73 percent conventional, 16 percent HMO and 11 percent PPO.

Grandfathered plans are present at 58 percent of firms offering health benefits, compared with 72 percent last year. However, 48 percent of covered workers are in grandfathered plans, down from 56 percent last year.

Unmarried partner benefits are offered to opposite-sex partners at 37 percent of firms and to same-sex partners at 31 percent of firms. In 2009, those percentages were 31 and 21, respectively.

Wellness programs of some stripe are offered at 63 percent of companies with less than 200 employees and 94 percent of companies with more than 200 employees. Of those, 10 percent of small firms offer employees financial incentives for participating, and 41 percent of large firms do.

If by any chance you still want more, all 241 pages of the report are available online.
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Now a local number: A community health needs assessment covering Dauphin, Cumberland, Perry, Lebanon and northern York counties reported that last year 48.7 percent of the population got flu shots. On a national scale, in the 2010-11 season, 43 percent of Americans were vaccinated against influenza.
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At the nonprofit/health nexus: This isn't the type of inspection you typically hear about in reference to breast cancer.
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Finally, this summer was the 50th birthday of the Long's Park Amphitheater Foundation, which sponsors a free 13-week summer music series every year. It's not too late to "light a candle" in celebration and support.

Heather Stauffer covers Lancaster County, nonprofits and health care. You can reach her at 717-285-4237, 717-236-4300, ext. 289, or heathers@centralpennbusiness.com. Follow her on Twitter, @StaufferCPBJ.