Hawaii state workers contribute the highest percentage of health insurance premiums in the nation, a new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts shows.

Hawaii state employees paid 42 percent for their insurance plans last year, significantly more than the national average of 16 percent and the highest among the states, excluding Pennsylvania, which didn’t participate in the study.

The state’s 58 percent premium contribution for workers’ medical plans compares with the U.S. average of 84 percent.

However, health plans for Hawaii’s public workers, excluding the city and counties, were rich in benefits — among the top 10 in terms of actuarial value — with the lowest copays, zero deductibles and no cost-sharing, the report found.

The state’s average monthly contribution for a single worker was $251, with employees paying $184. For employees with dependents, the state spent $714, while workers’ out-of-pocket cost was $523.

"While your employees have to contribute quite a bit to the premium, the richness of the plan is among the highest of any state," said Maria Schiff, project director for Pew’s State Health Care Spending Project. "I can imagine a single young employee of the state thinking this is not a good deal for her … but an older employee or one with a large family might say, ‘I have to spend a lot of my paycheck, but I don’t have to spend anything when going to the doctor.’"

While Hawaii state employees get top-10 benefits, the total premium paid is below the national average. The average monthly premium per state worker was $792, compared with the U.S. average of $963, the report showed.

"It’s interesting because Hawaii tends to be a high-cost state," Schiff added.

As states continue to grapple with controlling health insurance costs, they collectively spent more than $31 billion to insure 2.7 million employee households in 2013 — second only to Medicaid as a portion of states’ overall health care dollars.

The State Health Care Spending Project, a project of the Pew Charitable Trusts and the MacArthur Foundation, examined each state’s employee health plan spending, as well as how states compare with one another and with health plans offered in the private sector.