Health premiums up 95% since 2000

Between 2000 and 2009, the cost of a family premium provided by an employer increased 95.2% while median income went up just 17.5%, according to a new report by Families USA, a Washington nonprofit group that advocates for affordable healthcare. To make matters more galling, workers get fewer benefits plus higher deductibles and copays for the extra money. The organization blamed the higher prices on the rising cost and increased use of medical treatments, inadequate oversight of insurance companies, lack of competition among insurers in many markets, and cost-shifting from the growing numbers of uninsured to the insured.