Families in NC in 2014 pay $1397 per month for health insurance

North Carolina families faced another 4.6 percent increase on employer-based health insurance premiums this year.

That compares to an increase of 2.7 percent in 2013, though is a smaller increase than any in the five years leading up to 2013.

In real dollars, workers who buy health insurance for their families from their employer paid an average of $1,397 in premiums per month, according to data compiled by CAI, a human resource management firm in Raleigh, which completes an annual survey on workplace health insurance trends.

Those buying single coverage got a bit more of a break this year. Single coverage saw an average premium increase of 2.4 percent to $475 per month, the lowest increase since at least 2007.

Since 2007, premiums have increased 34 percent for family coverage and 30 percent for single coverage, or about 5 percent every year. Pay increases have not kept up, says Molly Hegeman, vice president of Human Resource Services at CAI. In fact, pay increases over that time have averaged only about 3 percent per year.

'People are 2 percent behind. And that's not considering any other increases people are facing,' Hegeman says.

Jason deBruyn covers Health Care, Higher Education, Nonprofits and Sports Business. Follow him on Twitter @jasondebruyn.