Health insurance premiums going up [Google+ Hangout]

Have your health insurance premiums gone up this year? If so, you’re not alone. Premiums for employer-sponsored coverage rose 4% on average, a new study shows, and they are likely to rise even more next year.

The annual tab for families has risen to $15,745, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust. Employers picked up most of that, but the average worker still paid $4,316, or 27%, of the total bill.

Join us for a live video chat about the cost of health insurance later today.

The Times will host a live discussion 3 p.m. PDT with healthcare reporter Chad Terhune, columnist David Lazarus and Shana Alex Lavarreda, director of Health Insurance Studies at UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research. We invite you to join in on the conversation by posting comments and questions below on this blog post.

LIVE VIDEO DISCUSSION: Join us at 3 p.m. today

Terhune wrote about the Kaiser study today, noting that even modest increases in healthcare costs can be a struggle to swallow for many businesses and workers.

U.S. health premiums have shot up 97% since 2002 -- three times faster than wages and inflation, the survey found.

Tell us what kinds of price hikes you are facing and how you are coping.

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