Stethoscope and dollars Medicaidrecipients get the biggest dollar value in health care as apercentage of their income, while those with employer-sponsoredhealth insurance get the smallest dollar value. (Photo:Shutterstock)

While higher-income Americans may pay the most in dollars towardthe nation's health care system, what they fork over pales incomparison as a share of income to what the nation's poor have tocough up.

So says a new RAND Corporation study, which finds not only is thesystem regressive, but families in the highest-income group (out offive) pay 16 percent of their income toward health care whilehouseholds in the bottom fifth pay an average of 33.9 percent oftheir income toward health care.

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Marlene Satter

Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.

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