If you follow CNN or Fox News, you know that universal health care is again the buzz, looming on the horizon like an albatross for any presidential candidate who tackles it.  Some states, like Connecticut, have their own initiatives going to open up the current health care system to all.    Joe Paduda of Managed Care Matters reports that the initiative isn't going very well, in part because the legislators were shocked of what the cost was:

"An effort in Connecticut to implement a single payer, universal coverage program is just about dead, after the state's Office of Fiscal Analysis determined it would cost as much as the entire state budget.

Politicians were shocked by the estimated total cost, which ranged from $12 billion to $18 billion.

I'm shocked that they were shocked.

My home state has just over 3 million citizens. At $4000 per person, that's $12 billion; at $6000 per person, it's $18 billion. I don't know what's more troubling - for politicians to not know that health care costs between $4000 and $6000 per person, or that we have about 3 million folks living here."

To give you, the HR Generalist and/or savvy manager, a price tag on what to expect if you take your company the self insured route, expect anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000 per covered individual.  While that's a wide range, my experience suggests that it moves up and down that scale based on age and the also the blue/white collar nature of the workforce (and their families) you are covering.

Hat tip to Tom O'Brien for the original link to Joe site, check out Tom's blog for a good Human Capital rundown....