The average yearly premium for employer-sponsored family coverage climbed from 6,772 dollars to 10,728 dollars between 2000 and 2005, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. During the same period, the average annual premium cost for single-person coverage increased from 2,655 dollars to 3,991 dollars.

-- For family coverage, workers contributed $971 more in 2005 than they did in 2000. Their premiums rose 60 percent from $1,614 to $2,585 per year. Workers with single-person coverage paid an average of $273 more per year for their premium in 2005 compared with 2000 - a 61 percent increase.

-- The burden was shared by employers as well. They paid $2,985 more in 2005 than they paid in 2000 for each family plan taken by their employees. The amount rose nearly 58 percent - from $5,158 to $8,143 per year. Employers also paid $1,063 more for each single plan in 2005 compared with 2000 - a 48 percent increase.

There were geographic differences in premium costs in the nation's 10 largest cities:

-- For example, New York City had the highest average overall cost for a family plan premium, $11,819. Of that, workers paid $2,564. By contrast, Los Angeles had the lowest average overall cost for a family plan - $10,122. For their share, workers paid $2,386.

-- Miami-Fort Lauderdale ranked only 8th in the average overall cost of a family plan premium ($10,535), but first in the share that workers had to pay ($3,559).

AHRQ, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, works to enhance the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care in the United States. The data in this AHRQ News and Numbers summary are taken from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), a highly detailed source of information on the health services used by Americans, the frequency with which they use them, the cost of those services, and how they are paid.

For more information, see State Differences in the Cost of Job-Related Health Insurance, 2005 at and Offer Rates, and Take-Up Rates, Premiums, and Employee Contributions for Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance in the Private Sector for the 10 Largest Metropolitan Areas, 2005.

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