Cost of health insurance keeps going up

The average annual premium for family coverage through an employer was $15,073 in 2011, a 9 percent increase from a year earlier, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation. That more than offsets average wage increases. Politically, it's unwelcome news for President Obama because at least some of the increases are in response to the government's new health care package. From the NYT:

The steep increase in rates is particularly unwelcome at a time when the economy is still sputtering and unemployment continues to hover at about 9 percent. Many businesses cite the high cost of coverage as a factor in their decision not to hire, and health insurance has become increasingly unaffordable for more Americans. Over all, the cost of family coverage has about doubled since 2001, when premiums averaged $7,061, compared with a 34 percent gain in wages over the same period. How much the new federal health care law pushed by President Obama is affecting insurance rates remains a point of debate, with some analysts suggesting that insurers have raised prices in anticipation of new rules that would, in 2012, require them to justify any increase of more than 10 percent.