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The good news in a recent health coverage survey was that employers held premium increases this year to the smallest percentage in a decade.

The bad news for those employers was that the increase was still 5.5 percent, and the worse news for their employees was that the key to battling costs was “sharply raising deductibles for in-network PPO (preferred provider organizations) services,” according to Mercer LLC.

Mercer, a New York City-based business consulting firm with an office in Urbandale, surveyed public and private organizations with 10 or more employees and received 2,914 responses.

The results provide a snapshot of American business as it scrambles to deal with health care, with congressional debate as a backdrop.

Small companies are moving toward high-deductible, account-based consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs). “In 2009, CDHP offerings among employers with 10-499 employees jumped from 9 percent to 15 percent,” the survey found.

Among companies surveyed in Iowa, “26 percent of respondents will shift cost to their employees in 2010 by raising deductibles, copays/coinsurance or out-of-pocket maximums,” the survey reports. “In addition, 35 percent will increase employees’ share of the premium contribution, and 8 percent will increase employee cost-sharing some other way.”

No matter where you stand on health-care reform, these details illustrate that the current system is a headache-maker. The business community may be ready for change.

Asked about the idea of requiring health insurance for every American, 44 percent of companies that don’t offer coverage for employees said they would be likely to offer a plan if the proposal becomes law; 57 percent would make the move if they received a tax credit reducing the net cost to about $2,000 per employee.

If Congress is patient, there’s a solution out there somewhere.