Employees receiving family health insurance coverage from their employers might have noticed an increase in the monthly premium bill last year, continuing a trend in which the premiums have more than doubled since 1999.

Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health insurance averaged $12,680 in 2008, 5 percent higher than the year before, with employees contributing approximately one-fourth of the cost, according to a survey released last week by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The survey calculated average national premium prices based on responses from 1,927 businesses asked about the type of coverage they provide and at what cost to the employee.

Employees at small businesses paid more on average for their health coverage. Businesses with less than 199 employers charged their employees an average of $4,101 in premiums. Workers at larger firms though, paid $2,982 for similar coverage.

The portion of employees with deductibles exceeding $1,000 also increased in 2008. The survey found that 35 percent of small business employees have health plans with a deductible of at least $1,000 in 2008 compared to 21 percent in 2007.

Employer's premiums contributions are expected to rise again in 2009. Approximately 14 percent of businesses surveyed said they were "very likely" to raise premium contributions and 12 percent said they planned to restrict eligibility for coverage or eliminate coverage all together.