English: Compensation - Gross and Net of Health Insurance Premiums
Employers think about the total compensation cost of employees and that calculation considers what they pay in health insurance premiums, in addition to salaries and wages. Since insurance premiums continue to grow rapidly, this cost is increasingly replacing other forms of compensation. The Council of Economic Advisors predicts that eventually wages will actually be reduced in real (inflation-adjusted) terms as the increase in insurance premiums will require reductions in non-insurance compensation. Health insurance premiums are thus a cause of salary and wage growth stagnation for much of the population in the U.S.