By Leslie Berestein UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER (excerpt) Anyone who was paying for health insurance in 1988 will remember the last great American health insurance crisis, the one so severe it sparked a national debate on the cost of private insurance and even led to an ill-fated attempt at a national health plan.

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It was the year premiums shot up 12 percent, and it was followed a year later by an even steeper, still-unmatched increase of 18 percent.

Also, 1988 was the year when an average insurance policy for a family of four cost $179 a month, or $286 in today's inflation-adjusted dollars, according to the Chicago-based Health Research and Educational Trust.

This is roughly a third of the $829 a month it took to insure the same family last year. And for that higher price, today's policy typically comes with higher office-visit co-payments, additional hospital deductibles, extra fees for brand-name prescription drugs and other out-of-pocket expenses.

Americans, facing a fourth consecutive year of double-digit premium increases during this latest insurance crisis, are paying bigger health care bills than ever, and not just in premiums.

Employers, to ease the financial strain of premiums that shot up about 14 percent last year, have resorted to passing along more costs to employees, a practice known as cost-sharing.

Many workers are forking out more every month not just for steeper premium contributions but also for each visit to the doctor's office or pharmacy. Consumers are paying higher deductibles and co-payments while facing tiered drug benefits that force them to pay more for brand-name medicines.

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Source: San Diego Union Tribune