A new report says health insurance premiums have increased at triple the rate of wages for South Dakota families since 2000, placing families and businesses at risk of having to drop or significantly reduce coverage. 

Families USA, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C., says annual premiums for family health coverage in South Dakota have risen 55 percent since 2000 and now cost the average worker $2,703 and the typical employer $7,774. 

In the same period, state wages increased only 17 percent. 

The median wage for a South Dakota worker was $23,700 last year.