Rising health costs cut into wages

RSS

Washington Post, March 24, 2008

Employees and employers across the country are getting squeezed by the price of healthcare, and the struggle to control health costs is viewed as crucial to improving wages and living standards for working Americans. Because employers are paying more for healthcare and other benefits, it leaves less money for pay increases. Benefits now devour 30.2% of employers' compensation costs, with the remaining money going to wages, according to the Labor Department.

Full Story

A bid to expand eligibility for weight-loss surgery

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel last month recommended allowing doctors to use the Lap-Band, a less drastic form of weight-loss surgery, in somewhat thinner, but still obese patients. Those...

Coupons for patients, but higher bills for insurers

With drug prices rising and many people out of work, pharmaceutical companies are increasingly helping patients with their co-payments. The use of such co-payment cards and coupons and other types of...

Insurers find individual and small group markets newly attractive, thanks to looming mandates

Restaurant workers are typically young. They typically work part time. And they typically can't afford health insurance. Yet the nation's cooks, servers and dishwashers recently found themselves being courted...

go to complete list