People in employer-sponsored health plans are paying 48 percent more out of their own pockets for care than they did three years ago, according to a new study, and the cost will be even higher next year.

Almost two-thirds of large employers raised the amounts that employees are contributing to the cost of their health plans this year, and 79 percent say they will do so in 2004, according to the study by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.

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Out-of-pocket spending for insurance premiums, deductibles and drug co-payments rose to $2,790 this year for a typical employee with family coverage, from $1,890 in 2000, Altman said. For single workers, average premium payments have risen from $334 to $508.

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"Given the state of the economy and the rapid rate of inflation, I don't think we have seen the worst of increased cost sharing with employees," said Jon Gabel, vice president of the Health Research and Educational Trust, a nonprofit group based in Washington.