According to the Tuesday-released findings of an annual survey carried out by The Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust, health insurance premiums in the US have increased at a much faster rate than wages and inflation this year.

Going by the findings of the survey, there has been, since the year 1999, a nearly four-fold increase in the cost of employer-sponsored family health coverage, as compared to wages and inflation.

The survey's statistics showed that while a 172 percent increase was witnessed in the total premiums cost for health insurance since 1999 - with employee's share of premiums rising 180 percent -, wages and inflation respectively rose only 47 percent and 38 percent during the mentioned period.

Although the survey showed that the 4 percent average countrywide increase in premiums - to $15,745 - in 2012, for nearly 149 million US workers covered by their employers, was substantially lower than the 2011 increase of 9 percent, Kaiser Family Foundation's president and CEO Drew Altman said that the premiums still comprise a large chunk of the budget for working families with flat or falling wages.

Despite the fact that the increase in premium costs is almost in line with broader health spending, with insurers apparently planning to push premiums up another 7 percent next year, Altman said: "In tough times, when wages are flat, people avoid using the healthcare system if they can. We also know that higher out-of-pocket costs deter utilization."