Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose to $12,680 annually for family coverage in 2008 — with employees on average paying $3,354 out of their paychecks to cover their share of the cost — and the scope of coverage has changed, with many more workers now enrolled in high-deductible plans, according to a [1] recent article published in Health Affairs. The article reports key findings from the [2] 2008 Employer Health Benefits Survey sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET).

Premiums rose a more modest 5 percent this year, but they have more than doubled since 1999, when total family premiums stood at $5,791 (of which workers paid $1,543), according to the article by Kaiser Vice President Gary Claxton and coauthors. During the same nine-year period, workers’ wages increased 34 percent, and general inflation rose 29 percent.

As presidential candidates debate how they would reform the system of health care coverage and make it more affordable, new [3] Census Bureau data report the number of uninsured Americans at 45.6 million. Analyst [4] Jeff Goldsmith delves into the data and finds that “the population of uninsured Americans seems to be getting both older and richer.”