Family Health Premiums Reach $13,375 Annually in 2009, Up 5 Percent as Inflation Fell Nearly...( Over 10 Years Pre...),Health

Over 10 Years, Premiums Jumped 131 Percent, More Than Three Times Worker Wages And Four Times General Inflation

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose to $13,375 annually for family coverage this year - with employees on average paying $3,515 and employers paying $9,860, according to the benchmark 2009 Employer Health Benefits Survey released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET).

Family premiums rose about 5 percent this year, which is much more than general inflation (which fell 0.7 percent during the same period, mostly due to falling energy prices). Workers wages went up 3.1 percent during the same period. Since 1999, premiums have gone up a total of 131 percent, far more rapidly than workers' wages (up 38 percent since 1999) or inflation (up 28 percent since 1999). For the past few years, the annual rise in premiums has been more moderate than the double-digit growth experienced earlier this decade.

As Congress considers health reforms building on the existing employment-based system, the annual Kaiser/HRET survey provides a detailed picture of private health insurance coverage and costs. The full report and summary of findings from the annual survey of small and large employers will be available today at www.kff.org/insurance/7936/index.cfm. Selected findings will also be published today as a Web Exclusive in the journal Health Affairs at www.healthaffairs.org .

The survey found that 60 percent of firms offer health benefits to any of th
'/>"/>