Asked to choose between a $6,700 raise and employer-sponsored health insurance, 75% (of those polled) picked the health plan. Of those, 13% said no raise would be big enough to persuade them to give up their coverage. The average cost of employer-provided coverage was about $6,700 per worker in 2004. It has since gone up to more than $7,100. These results come from the annual Health Confidence Survey, released today by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute. The telephone poll of 1,000 adults was the ninth such annual survey, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Overall, the proportion of employees covered by a company plan dropped from 81% in 2001 to 77% in 2005. After annual increases in health insurance costs hit double-digit rates in 2001, employers responded by passing an increasing share of the burden on to workers in the form of higher deductibles and co-payments. Such measures have slowed cost increases for employers, although they are still running at about twice the rate of overall inflation.

The White House is encouraging Americans to consider so-called consumer-directed plans, which feature low-cost insurance for major medical expenses with a tax-sheltered "health savings account" to cover the cost of routine care. A Rand Corp. report found that such plans could help cut spending and slow the rate of cost increases by reducing the use of medical services 4% to 15%. However, individuals may offset some of those savings by spending more out of their health savings accounts. The researchers said more study would be needed to determine whether the savings would be a one-time phenomenon or an enduring trend. About 3 million people are enrolled in consumer-directed plans, but the number is growing rapidly as large employers add this option to their benefits.

See full Los Angeles Times story, Health costs bedeviling Americans, survey shows