U.S. workers and their families, especially those living in the South, are spending a bigger share of their income on health care. According to a Commonwealth Fund study, average employee premium contributions for single and family plans consumed nearly 7 percent of U.S. median income in 2017, up from 5 percent in 2008. In Louisiana, premium contributions represented 10.2 percent of median income. For Americans whose incomes fall in the midrange of the income distribution, total spending on employer plan premiums and potential out-of-pocket costs to meet deductibles amounted to 11.7 percent of income last year, up from 7.8 percent a decade earlier.
