Health care cost increases easing.(cost reductions survey)

Evidence continues to mount that the growth in health care costs is slowing.

Employer-based health insurance premiums jumped an average of 11.2% this year, down from 13.9% last year, according to a major study by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust. Furthermore, Jon Gabel, vice president of health system studies for HRET, expects health cost increases will continue to decline during the next several years.

The Kaiser-HRET findings echo other recent studies that indicate the rate of health care cost increases is declinin