This is not good news for those who want to retire early (and therefore have to pay for their own health insurance).

The health-care premiums of employers and their workers have climbed twice as fast as wages and inflation in 2006 -- to nearly double their cost in 2000 -- and they look to rise at a similar clip next year, two nationwide surveys show. That said, the pace of increase is about half what it was just a few years ago.

The average family premium rose 7.7% in 2006. That compared with a 3.8% rise in wages and inflation of around 3.5%. Even so, the 7.7% increase marks the third year that employer health-care cost increases have decelerated since soaring nearly 14% in 2003, according to a 2,122-employer survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, and by the Health Research and Educational Trust.

The cost for family coverage under an employer health plan is now $11,480, well over what a minimum-wage worker would earn in a year and beyond what many companies and their workers can afford. While 98% of companies with more than 200 workers still provide some sort of employee health benefits, only 60% of smaller businesses do. That's little changed from last year but down from 68% in 2000.