The average health-care costs of American families who are insured through their jobs is $19,393, up 7.3 percent or $1,319 from last year. Of this increase, workers’ out-of-pocket costs rose 9.2 percent. Payroll deductions for insurance coverage rose 9.3 percent. Employers have increasingly been offering health plans with larger deductibles to control their own costs and to force workers to use medical care more selectively.

1. How do larger deductibles help employers to control their own costs?

2. How do larger deductibles change the incentives that people face?

3. How do larger deductibles chosen by employers influence the distribution of health-care costs?