In real dollars, that means the premiums for the employer-based medical coverage plans offered as a job benefits package to about 70 percent of Utahns increased by $5,339, to $11,644 from $6,305 in 2000.

During that same period, median earnings increased by $3,708, to $25,205 from $21,497. -->

The report notes that despite the good economic times and gains in higher take-home pay, employers were shifting to "insurance light" plans with pared-down benefits, higher co-payments, a trend of denied payments for medical procedures already pre-approved, higher deductibles and much stricter pre-existing condition exclusions.

The result, Families USA executive director Ron Pollack said Thursday, is a "triple whammy" of skyrocketing premium costs, a greater portion of compensation going for fringe benefit medical plans that pay for employers and the overall economy in the dumps.

"Bottom line," he added, "this is the definitive example of people paying a lot more and getting a lot less."

This new pile of health-care woes comes with a cherry on top: The cost of medical care is routinely driving people further into debt and into bankruptcy sometimes, with more than half of Utah bankruptcies due, at least in part, to unpaid medical bills.

Unlike the collapse on Wall Street, the health-care crisis could be seen coming for years, it's not something abstract, and fixing it isn't subject to stock-market-type mood swings, Pollack said, adding that when the dust settles in the financial markets and the presidential election, the health-care crisis will loom large again.