From the Kaiser Family Foundation:
Since 1999 (through 2008), total premiums paid by employers for family employee sponsored health insurance has risen 119%; and the portion paid by the employees themselves has gone up 117%. And the smaller the firm you work for, the less likely you are to keep your coverage. In addition, out-of-pocket costs for employees have also gone up.
You know all of this already, but look at that graph. See the increased portions that employers pay? This is one of the major reasons why wages (except for bankers) are relatively flat. It is also a reason why some smaller firms either downsize to maintain insurance or they stop offering it altogether. Every extra dollar that you and/or your employer spend to keep up with insurance rates that are rising at a faster pace than inflation — rising at a faster pace than most people’s salaries — is a dollar that your employer can’t give you as a raise. Or a dollar that you can’t spend to put a new roof on your house.
This is the status quo that repubs and their teabagging armies want to keep in place. A world where your compensation is captive to the costs of medical insurance. Without a fix — even the beginning of a fix — these numbers do not slow down. And at what point does our economy become completely hostage to medical insurance and medical expenses?