Out-of-pocket costs (including premiums) for American workers with employer-based health insurance increased 30 percent between 2001 and 2006, from an average of $2,827 to $3,744, according to a federal government report released Tuesday.
When premiums weren't included, the average cost increased from $1,260 to $1,522, according to Hidden Costs of Health Care: Why Americans Are Paying More but Getting Less.
The report also says that employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have nearly doubled since 2000, a rate three times higher than wage increases. In 2008, the average premium for an employer-based family plan was $12,680. That's nearly as much as the annual wage of a person working a full-time minimum wage job, the report said.
In 2004, about 20 percent of Americans with employer-based health insurance had a co-payment of more than $25, but that increased to one-third by 2008, according to the report.