Workers pay 21 percent of health insurance

WASHINGTON, July 15 (UPI) -- U.S. private-sector employees paid 21 percent of the cost of their health insurance in 2010 while employees with family coverage paid 27 percent, officials say.

A report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, says health insurance premiums nationwide averaged $4,940 for single coverage and $13,871 for family coverage last year.

Among the 10 largest states, the annual cost of single coverage ranged from $4,669 in Ohio to $5,220 in New York, and family coverage ranged from $13,083 in Ohio to $15,032 in Florida, the report says.

However, 18 percent of employees with single coverage and 10 percent of employees with family coverage were not required to pay for any part of their employer-sponsored health insurance.

The data are from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a detailed source of information on the health services used by Americans, the frequency with which they are used, the cost of those services and how they are paid.

The report is at: www.meps.ahrq.gov/data_stats/quick_tables.jsp.