The percentage of people with health insurance through their employers — traditionally the way most people get coverage — is continuing to shrink, raising anxiety among workers and invigorating a debate about whether insurance should be tied to jobs. ...

Premiums continue to go up, although the rate of increase has slowed in the past couple of years. This year, the average increase faced by employers was 6.1%, according to the Kaiser survey, well below the recent peak increase of 13.9% in 2003.

Such premium increases weigh heaviest on lower-income workers.

For example, a household earning $40,000 this year would have to pay 8% of its pretax income to cover the average share paid by workers — $3,281 — for a typical family policy offered by employers, which this year cost $12,106. That doesn't include deductibles and co-payments that those with coverage must pay.

"People should be nervous," says Len Nichols, an economist at the Washington think tank New America Foundation. "People aren't so afraid of losing their jobs as (of) not being able to afford health insurance even with a good job," he says. ...

For the complete article, please follow this link.