Rising healthcare costs are killing wage increases. From 1980 to 2007 the average cash income for the vast majority of Americans (the bottom 90 percent) increased only $2,697, to $33,321. Healthcare spending per household rose more than three times as much, increasing $8,797, to $15,369, according to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. Household healthcare spending now equals almost half of the average income of the vast majority of Americans.
design by Lloyd Miller
David Cay JohnstonDavid Cay Johnston is a Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative reporter, formerly with The New York Times, and a four-time best-selling author. He teaches at Syracuse University College of Law.