WASHINGTON — The cost of health insurance in the United States climbed nearly twice as fast as wages in the first half of 2007, with family coverage costing employers around 1,000 dollars (714 euros) a month, a poll showed Wednesday. Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose an average of 6.1 percent in 2007, while wages went up by 3.7 percent, the Employer Health Benefits Survey released by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust showed. The 6.1 percent rise in health insurance premiums marked a slowdown from the rate of increase last year, but also strongly outpaced inflation, running at 2.6 percent. ‘In 2007, the increase in health insurance premiums was about twice the rate of inflation and not quite twice the increase in workers’ pay,’ Kaiser vice-president Gary Claxton said in a webcast. Premiums for family coverage have surged by 78 percent since 2001, while wages have gone up 19 percent. The average premium for family coverage in 2007 was just over 12,000 dollars, with workers having to pick up part of the cost. Workers contributed, on average, 273 dollars a month towards family health coverage packages, up from […]