As the finale to a big week of economic data, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Employment Cost Index on Friday.It showed that employee benefit costs were up 3.8% this spring over the past year. That’s a faster rate of growth than wages, which were up only 3.2%. One thing that’s pushing up those benefit costs? What employers are forking over for health insurance.Health insurance costs for employers have been growing at a rate we haven’t really seen since 2005. “So that makes you want to say, well, why is this going on?” said Erica Groshen, an economist at Cornell University and former commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.Groshen said there are a bunch of reasons why, one being innovation in healthcare. “We have new drugs, and new drugs tend to be more expensive than old drugs,” she said.Think GLP-1 inhibitors, or new treatments for cancer. Groshen said these types of drugs could make workers healthier in the long term, but right now, they’re driving insurance costs up.Another factor? Rising wages for people who work in healthcare.“Some of this is due to actually declining immigration, because we get a lot of nurses, health aides, and doctors from overseas,” Groshen said.Also, we have an aging workforce, and older people generally use more health care. So, what’s a cost-addled employer to do? Groshen said some might hold off on hiring to keep costs down. Others could choose to raise prices."Well, you know that this is a reason why we might have to increase the cost for our goods and services, whatever we're selling,” Groshen said, as an example of what an employer could say.The bad news might be for the workers.“Your boss will tell you, sorry, your raise is not as big as it would have been because I had to channel more of that money that I pay you over to rising health insurance costs,“ said Guy Berger, an economist and senior fellow with the Burning Glass Institute.A survey from the benefits consulting firm Mercer shows that last year, on average, paying for health insurance cost employers about $17,500 for each worker on a company-sponsored plan. “Healthcare costs are the biggest component of benefits for most companies,” said Sunit Patel, chief actuary for U.S. Health at Mercer.He said some employers are trying to nudge workers towards certain providers to save on those costs. “It could be that the provider directory you see is going to prioritize those providers, physicians, hospitals that they think are better quality and lower cost,” he said.Or, it could be that the directory offers a better deal for a particular provider. “You can go to Doctor A who has a $20 copay, or Doctor B who has a $50 copay,” he said.Either way, Patel expects these high healthcare costs to stick around until at least next year.