Update

To the post on Medicaid below.

Check this out from the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Premiums for family coverage are rising even faster than for single coverage.)

Take as an example a single person with income at 300 percent of FPL [Federal Poverty Level], which was about $23,220 in 1996 and about $27,930 in 2004. A health insurance plan that cost the person $1,200 in 1996 would consume just 5.2% of income. With premium inflation, that plan would cost over $2,230 in 2004, or about 8.0% of income for a person with income at 300 percent of FPL. This share of income going to health insurance would continue to rise over time as long as health insurance premiums rise faster than FPL.

(See this also, about the decline in employer-based coverage due to rising costs.)