Wage Increases from 1999 to 2009 all went to Healthcare Costs

I’ve been baffled why people get so upset by tax increases, but when measures are taken to make health care costs and delivery more on a par with other developed countries, they shriek about freedom.  All middle class wage increases since 1999 have gone to insurance premiums and copays.  Someone is benefiting from this system, and it certainly isn’t the average citizen. Bah. $15000 a year for the average citizen for health insurance, but people criticize Michael Moore for pointing out this travesty.
 
2. Insurance premium growth has wiped out the last decade of wage growth. Overall, that middle-income family saw its income go up by $23,000, from $76,000 in 1999 to $99,000 in 2009 — not too bad. But rising health-care costs in the form of increased insurance premiums and co-pays, ate up nearly all of that. Factor in that spending, as a recent Health Affairs article did, and the average family only had $95 a month more in available income than it did a decade ago.