The average premium for employer-based family health coverage rose 5% in 2009 to $13,375, according to a survey released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation and AHA Health Research & Educational Trust. Sixty percent of firms offered health benefits to at least some of their workers, with the average employee paying about one-third of the premium. Four in 10 workers at firms with fewer than 200 people had deductibles of $1,000 or more. Between 1999 and 2009, the average family premium for employer-based coverage rose 131%, three times more than worker wages and four times the general rate of inflation. "Today's survey results demonstrate the need for comprehensive, meaningful reform," said Maulik Joshi, HRET president and AHA senior vice president for research. "Our nation faces a unique opportunity to achieve reform and build a better health care system that improves care for patients and provides coverage for all at an affordable cost."