“To working people and business owners, a reduction in an already very high rate of increase just means you're still paying more,” said Dr. Drew Altman, president and chief executive officer of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health care research organization that annually tracks the cost of health insurance.

Altman said the rising gap between premium growth and wages is particularly startling when one takes a longer look back. Since 2000, health insurance premiums have gone up 87 percent; wages 20 percent.

The Kaiser Family Foundation's findings are based on a telephone survey of 3,159 randomly selected private and public employers. More that 155 million Americans get their health insurance through their jobs.

The rising cost of health insurance is one reason that employers are finding it an increasingly difficult benefit to give their workers. Since 2000, the percentage of firms offering health benefits has fallen to 61 percent from 69 percent. This year, however, the deterioration appeared to stop, particularly among small businesses.

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