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December 3, 2008 2:48:20 AM CST

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Health Care Costs to US Manufacturers Skyrocket

Posted May 7, 08 12:50 PM CDT in US,  Science & Health,  Business 

(Newser) – The cost of providing health insurance to US workers is rising so fast it can't be passed along either to workers or customers, a new study reported in the Los Angeles Times finds. Manufacturers now spend, on average, $2.38 per worker per hour—more than twice as much as their foreign competitors—adding about $1,500 to the price of a new car.

"There's no question that if employers could push this into wages they would," said one economist. "But every single year, health care costs rise faster than productivity and wages. Thus, they try to push it into prices. But with China and India competing against you, you can't do that."

Source Los Angeles Times

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Graphic shows increase in health care costs over time.   (AP Photo)
A protest against high health care costs in front of the Aetna's headquarters in Hartford, Conn.   (AP Photo/Bob Child)
Walter Lino uses a wrench on a wheel assembly of a New York City subway car at the Kawasaki manufacturing facility in Yonkers, N.Y.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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