Much has been made of America’s belt-tightening due to the 8 percent increase in grocery bills this year caused by rising food costs. There are stories about the recession diet. Stories about middle-class Americans hoarding rice and flour they purchased at a suburban Costco.  And stories about urban garden virgins collaborating to give birth to veggie gardens to feed themselves.

Overshadowed by all the chatter about the high prices of gas and milk is another major economic indicator: The rising cost of health care. According to a recent University of Minnesota study (PDF), insured workers paid an average of 30 percent more for health insurance from 2001 to 2005. Average prices for a family premium increased from $8,281 in 2001 to $10,728 in 2005 while the average income only increased by three percent for the same period.

What’s more, as insurance costs rise for employers, fewer companies are offering it to employees. In Minnesota in 2001, 61 percent of private-sector employers offered health insurance. By 2005 it dropped to 54 percent.

The study does not include the increasing costs of single-payer health care. Yet even those who are insured are finding it difficult to pay for health care costs. A recent Gallup poll study found that three in 10 people surveyed had foregone medical treatment due to rising costs.

Despite those findings, voter concerns have shifted in recent weeks. With 87 percent of Americans believing the economy is getting worse, according to another Gallup study released last week, health care as a single issue has been superseded by economy fears and election-created issues.

In December 2007 health care was the third-biggest concern among voters. Today health care is fifth on the list of top voter concerns, just behind government corruption and terrorism.