According to a recent study by the Center for Health System Change, employer-based health insurance premiums increased by 15 percent last year. In fact, health insurance premiums would have been higher if employers had not passed on more costs to consumers through co-payments and higher deductibles.

The increase in health insurance premiums is the largest increase in the past decade and far exceeds the 9.6 percent increase in health spending.

The increase in insurance premiums exceeds both the increase in spending on outpatient hospital services, which was the fastest growing component of health spending in 2002, and the increase in spending on prescription drugs. The study authors note that “premium increases have been larger than underlying costs increases for a number of years now”