Source of graph: online version of the NYT article quoted and cited below.
The most interesting part of the article quoted below, was the above graph, that dramatically shows health care’s large and growing share of disposable personal income.
(p. 28) Among employers, the hardest pressed may be small businesses. Their insurance premiums tend to be proportionately higher than ones paid by large employers, because small companies have little bargaining clout with insurers.
Health costs are “burying small business,” said Mike Roach, who owns a small clothing store in Portland, Ore. He recently testified on health coverage at a Senate hearing led by Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon.
Last year, Mr. Roach paid about $27,000 in health premiums for his eight employees. “It’s a huge chunk of change,” he said, noting that he was forced to raise his employees’ yearly deductible by 50 percent, to $750.
For the full story, see:
REED ABELSON and MILT FREUDENHEIM. “Even the Insured Feel Strain of Health Costs.” The New York Times, Section 1 (Sun., May 4, 2008): 1 & 28.