Metro Area Insurance Costs Rising

Employer-sponsored family health insurance costs are going up faster than paychecks in both New Jersey and New York, according to Families USA, a national non-profit organization dedicated to affordable, high quality health care for all Americans.

While health premiums for NJ families rose 71% between 2000 and 2008, median income rose only about 15%. For NY families, premiums went up almost 81% while worker pay increased only 11% from 2000 to 2007. Nationally premiums rose about 74%, while median income grew about 14.5%.

Employer contributions to employee health insurance also increased during the period but not as fast as the amount workers were asked to pay.

For more information, http://www.familiesusa.org.