Health insurance premiums have doubled

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- While the price of gas gets the headlines, the price of health insurance premiums has gone up by 100 percent since 1996, U.S. health officials said.

A report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said that from 1996 to 2006 nationwide, the average premium cost of a family insurance plan rose from $4,954 to $11,381 a year, while the average cost for a single premium went from $1,992 to $4,118.

Employers paid for most of the increases; their share rose from $3,679 to $8,491 a year for family coverage and from $1,650 to $3,330 a year for single coverage.

However, employees saw their share rise significantly, as well -- from $1,275 to $2,890 a year for family coverage, and from $342 to $788 a year for single coverage.