Paychecks Not Keeping Pace with Health Insurance

Workers with employer-paid health insurance and families to cover are now paying an average of $3,281 a year toward their premiums – in addition to higher deductibles and rising co-payments for prescriptions and doctor visits, according to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research Educational Trust.

Although the 6.1 percent hike in health insurance premiums this year is lower than last year's increase and less than half the whopping 13.9 percent increase in 2003, the survey showed that premiums overall have skyrocketed 78 percent since 2001. That's four times faster than wages or inflation.