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MILWAUKEE (AP) -- A new survey finds Wisconsinites pay more for health insurance than the rest of the country and the cost is rising at a faster rate.

The consulting firm Mercer finds employers and their workers in Wisconsin paid an average of nearly $11,000 per employee for health insurance in 2009. That's nearly 22 percent above the national average of about $8,900.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the cost of health benefits for employees nationally rose 5.5 percent for the year, the smallest annual increase in a decade. In Wisconsin, costs increased by 6.8 percent.

Mercer surveyed more than 2,900 employers, including 88 in Wisconsin.

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   Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com
   (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)