Figuratively Speaking: Companies to pay nearly $10K per employee for health benefits in '09

Average corporate health benefit expenditure per employee in 2009 (an increase of 6 percent over 2008 figures), according to the 2009 Towers Perrin Health Care Cost Survey: $9,660

Percentage increase in total health care costs since 2004: 33

Percentage increase in employee share during the same period: 42

Medical bills

Percentage of all young Americans (18-34 years old) who are carrying medical debt, according to research conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner for Qvisory 2008 Greenberg survey: 28

Percentage of all young people who have gone without health insurance at some point in the past five years, including 75 percent of those who are now carrying medical debt: 50-plus

Doctors and politics

Percentage of physicians who have formed party and/or candidate preferences based upon the candidate's stand regarding key issues, according to a study from DoctorDirectory.com: 81.3

When asked how a universal health care system should be funded, percentage who thought it should be funded by the federal government: 10

Percentage who said they preferred some combination of state, federal, employer and individual contributions: 60

Online health care

In 1998, estimated number of "cyberchondriacs" who went online for health care information at least once, according to a Harris Interactive poll: 54 million

Number of people who did so in 2007: 160 million

Average number of times per month cyberchondriacs look for health care information: 4.8

Paying for wellness

Despite the economic doldrums afflicting the nation, projected percentage growth in the U.S. market for vitamins, minerals, homeopathics and herbals between 2008 and 2012: 39

Estimated value of the market in 2012: $8.5 billion

Family health care

Estimated percentage of Americans who report their family has had problems paying medical bills in the past year, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll: 33

Percentage of the public who report that someone in their family is skipping pills or postponing or cutting back on medical care they needed in the past year due to the cost of care: 47

Healthy treats

From January through August 2008, the number of new "functional candies" (products providing nutrients such as calcium, protein, fiber, et cetera) that were released, according to a survey by the National Confectioners Association: 159

John MacIntyre is a Nova Scotia-based author and former city magazine editor. His "Figuratively Speaking" column, launched in 1989, is published in more than 40 newspapers and magazines.