joining us now to explain the big increase and what we should do about it is health care expert andrew rubins kind of increase? >> well, listen this, has nothing to do with health care reform. long before health care reform was passed employers were shifting costs on to their employees, and this is just a continuation of rising costs in the health care system. the insurance companies increase the amount they charge employers, and employers pass that on to their employees. >> okay. so let's talk about how in the world you can try to keep the costs down. let's look at some of the options. hmo, ppos often among the choices. you say an hmo might be something you want to consider. >> yeah. you know, hmos had a bad wrap a long time ago. people didn't like the idea of their care being so tightly managed and not having the ability to go out of network but so many doctors and hospitals are actually in network right now so you have to check and make sure that the hmo has good coverage in your area and the premiums tend to be the same for the employee at a ppo which has a little more flexibility, you k