Hewitt Associates said today U.S. employer costs for healthcare will rise 6.4% on average in 2009. The Lincolnshire IL-based human resources consulting and outsourcing firm said healthcare costs for U.S. companies rose 6.0% in 2008, compared with a 5.3% increase in 2007.

Hewitt said the average health cost per person for major companies will rise to $8,863 in 2009 from $8,331 this year. Employees will be asked to contribute $1,946 of that amount in 2009.

In addition, out-of-pocket costs for workers are expected to increase to $1,880 in 2009 from $1,707 in 2008, according to Hewitt.

Hewitt's data on health plans comes from a database of more than 1,800 health plans throughout the U.S. that include 400 major employers and more than 13 million health plan participants, according to the company.