Burden of health care costs shifts to workers
By Noam N. Levey, Los Angeles Times
American workers saw their out-of-pocket medical costs jump again this year, as the average deductible for an employer-provided health plan surged nearly 9 percent in 2015 to more than $1,000, a major new survey of employers shows.
The annual increase, though lower than in previous years’, far outpaced wage growth and overall inflation and marked the continuation of a trend that in just a few years has dramatically shifted healthcare costs to workers.
Over the past decade, the average deductible that workers must pay for medical care before their insurance kicks in has more than tripled from $303 in 2006 to $1,077 today, according to the report from the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust.
That is seven times faster than wages have risen in the same period.
TANSTAAFL.
You are right Dogbreath,
There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
There is such a thing as corporate greed though. Really don’t expect you to understand any of this,given your narrow minded, myopic outlook on life, but since the start of the Great Depression corporations have put the burden of profits for their shareholders squarely on the backs of their employees. Increasing health care out of pocket costs allows them to bring down the cost of mandated health care options thus resulting in more profit for them.
Trying to explain this to you is like trying to explain physics to a caveman though.
I have always struggled with the concept of corporate greed. I understand why it’s such a flashpoint but how does one define it? Are corporate profits greedy if Chevron or pharmacutical company has them but then what about Apple’s profits. Is it the amount of money a corporation generated or is it the rate of return? Is corporate greed defined as the pursuit of profits in excess of an industry average? Is corporporate greed in the eye of the beholder? While one person may see an insurance company in terms of greed another person who has the company’s stock and uses the dividends to support their retirement may view those profits as beneficial. Or is corporate greed a catch all critique of our economic system. Are some profits ok but a little to much is greed? If that’s the case how does one determine that?
Carl has never struggled with his intense desire to latch on to any and all corporate teats available. When you make your money pandering to bigbucks, the ‘mother’s milk of developers’, one may become a bit jaded-
Tea if you want to confront or attack me or any ideas that’s fine but at least have the courtesy to do it with a real name otherwise what you have to say really doesn’t matter in fact what have to say is irrelevant. You really don’t know much about me if anything.
In fact why don’t you show us all how smart you are and respond to my above post. Try adding to the discussion.
Carl-My 1st job in Tahoe was greensmower at Edgewood Golf Course in the 70’s-ever heard of it? Steve Seibel was assistant superintendent and Orrin Vincent was Pro-
I know exactly who you are and what you do.-
Before reagan, corporations had a responsibility to be accountable to their employees, their community and their customers. Thanks to the changes brought about by his administration the rules of the corporate game were changed. The one and only beneficiary of the largesse had now become the shareholders- to hell with the human consequences, profit is god and if the 1% swallows all the treasure at the expense of the 99%?- well hey, that’s how the reaganism/ capitalism game is played-
and I’m smart enough to know when someone sells out their soul and their fellow citizens for the almighty dollar
Totaled, (and Haddi) since, as you point out, government is what allowed corporations to become so powerful and uncaring, I’d think you’d be LESS supportive of an all-encompassing, overpowerful government. Yet you seem to want government to have MORE say over every facet of life. That seems like a total intellectual disconnect to me. (Funny how you both regularly accuse ME of stupidity!)
If people in corporations can’t be trusted, what makes people in government trustworthy? Seems to me they’re all people, and too much power in the hands of ANY of them is a very bad thing.
A corporation can’t fine you or put you in prison if you decline to purchase their product or do business with them. But the government can, and does. Regularly. And you still trust the government to have only your best interests at “heart”.
Wrongula- the government installed by the corporations and billionaires in cahoots with the cons must be removed-
your bogus alternative of privatization of all the commons and control by the oligarchs is rand madness-
the best answer is to return control of the gov’t to “We the People” and the best way to do that is http://www.feelthebern.org and http://www.berniesanders.com
‘Yet you seem to want government to have MORE say over every facet of life’
Can’t make it a week without using a straw dog.
Teatotal i hope you realize that 65% of the stock market is owned by people who are not in the 1% wealth bracket, that means main street, not wall street. Do you have anything to back up your statement that before Reagan Corps. were not concerned about stockholders, this seems like a feel good statement, that is false corps first concern has always been about their stockholders.
Carl to many here, any corp. profit is corp greed. It doesnt matter to them that most of the profits go to main street investors.
Like I said tea if all you want to do is criticize me from behind a name what you have to say really doesn’t matter. Your criticism just doesn’t carry any weight. Sorry.
Carl–Pay that teat troll no mind. He’s just jealous of your intelligence and success. Keep doing what your doing. You are one of the few who works hard to move this town forward.
Carl-
Corporate greed is when the CEO makes 20 million/year and the company profits barely are that.
Corporate greed is when bankers break the laws in the name of profits and screw with the libor interest rates which affect every one of us using credit.
Corporate greed is when bonuses to officers are paid in a falling stock market and golden parachute contracts where you get richer for making the company fail.
Corporate greed is outsourcing jobs to foreign nations where wages are fractional to those here, in the name of cutting costs/raising profits.
Corporate greed is using the employees retirement trust funds to try for more profit and the company loses the trust fund. (Recall United airlines a few years ago)
I could go on….and on and on
Clearly profits are necessary to pay dividends to shareholders , invest in more efficient equipment, but when dishonesty and subversion are the reason profits rise, it needs to be rethought.
Cranky, all this maybe true, but this is the fault of the shareholders for stacking the boards with a bunch of yes man directors who go along with the executives. Though i dont think that most of the executives are in the 1% which is what tea was going on about.
Cranky, all this maybe true, but this is the fault of the shareholders for stacking the boards with a bunch of yes man directors who go along with the executives. Though i dont think that most of the executives are in the 1% which is what tea was going on about.
Also there has been a trend of bring alot of jobs back to the US that were outsourced to other countries, fpr various reasons, like qaulity, stable infastructure, rising wages that negate the savings for going overseas.
Why would anybody put themselves in a position to be dependent on the generosity of other people to provide for your care? That’s not what I would consider an adult position to be in. More like a dependent, childlike situation. A weak position to b esure.
Why would anybody put themselves in a position to be dependent on the generosity of other people to provide for your care? That’s not what I would consider an adult position to be in. More like a dependent, childlike situation. A weak position to be sure. But that’s the model you like?
‘But that’s the model you like?’
The question mark doesn’t negate you attributing ideas to them they didn’t express. Knock it off, its rrrrrealy old.