Employer Health Care Costs Nearly Doubled Since 2000

With all the talk about the new health care plan possibilities from the government, we still ahven't really helped anyone with health care costs in general. Even those that have insurance are feeling the pain.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today released a report about the rising cost of health care. Among its conclusions: "Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have nearly doubled since 2000."

The increase in health care costs increased almost triple the rate of wage growth. Something that has been rather stagnant just form my limited observations over the last decade. Jobs I had 10 years ago are paying exactly the same todaty as they were back then. Flatlined.

They cost employers' $12,680 for the average family plan -- nearly the same as a minimum wage salary for one year, according to the HHS. Kind of hard to balance the books on your lcd monitor with that type of cost increase.

The HHS report stated that family deductibles increased 30 percent in two years for average preferred provider (PPO) plans; for families covered by "small firms" the increase was 64 percent, from $1,439 to $2,367.

"It doesn't matter if you have insurance or not," states HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, "when Americans go to the hospital or the doctor's office, they are paying more and getting less."