What's an average health insurance premium?
The Commonwealth Fund recently came out with a lengthy report summarizing state trends in health insurance premiums and deductibles from 2003 through 2009. (The upshot: premiums rose 41 percent nationally during those years, while per-person deductibles jumped 77 percent.)
In Washington state, the study found, the cost of premiums rose 38 percent between 2003 and 2009, with family coverage costing an average of $12,758 here in 2009.
How's that compare to everyone else? About in the middle. In a list of the 50 states plus Washington, D.C., from highest family premiums to lowest, we come in 28th.
Also, the Kaiser Family Foundation does an annual survey on employer health benefits. The most recent one -- based on data from January through May 2010 -- found that premiums had risen 114 percent from 2000 through 2010, to a national average of $13,770. Worker contributions during the same time rose -- brace yourself -- 147 percent. (Here's a link to the gigantic full health benefits report.)