Health Insurance costs skyrocketing

Premiums for job-based health insurance rose 11.2 percent on average this year across the nation, according to a survey released Thursday, the latest evidence of a gathering crisis in medical costs that is placing an increasingly heavy burden on employers and consumers.



The 2004 jump was less than last year's 13.9 percent increase, but still represented a fourth consecutive year of double-digit rate hikes, according to the annual employer health benefits survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Education Trust.



Although premium increases showed signs of moderating, employer payments for health insurance still rose five times faster than the rate of inflation and workers' earnings.