What do GM, Ford, hotels in LA, grocery stores and public transit in Sacramento, public transit in Philly, and Boeing have in common?

All were faced with strikes and/or labor strife due primarily to conflicts about health care insurance, costs, and access. The strike by Sikorsky workers in Connecticut (registration required) is yet another example of health care's growing pressure on US employers.

There's a great quote in the NYTimes article on Sikorsky from one of Sikorsky's flight technicians that crystallizes this issue - " "This isn't only about us," said Bruce Peters, a flight technician ... This is a nationwide problem with medical care." Peters notes that any wage increases the workers have been offered will be consumed by insurance costs - the additional copays, co-insurance, and employee premium contributions contained in the company's latest contract offer.

Peters personalizes the national disparity between wage growth and employees' personal health care costs. Premiums for employer-sponsored health care have grown five times faster than wages since 2000.

In 2004, the average family's insurance premiums came within an x-ray charge of $10,000. In contrast, median family income in 2004 was slightly over $43,000. Yes, you read that right - health insurance costs came to 23% of family earnings.

And yes, things have gotten worse since the sunny days of 2004; predictions are that 2006 will see the average family's insurance costs hitting $14,500 per year.

A survey of smaller employers in California indicates that more than half will not be offering health insurance to their workers this year. This despite their optimism about growth and increased revenues in 2006.

The sky is falling, and it is crashing down around the heads of US employers, employees, taxpayers, and governments.

What to do?

Of all the groups out there, the National Coalition for Health Care Reform is making the most sense. NCHC's goals are universal coverage; health care quality improvement; cost management; equitable financing and simplified administration.
What is notable about their work is nowhere does the coalition advocate single-payer, private insurance, or any other system. Yes, they research, study, and report on the potential impacts, positive and negative, of the several types and sources of funding. No, NCHC doesn't take a political stance.