A scant three months after her grandfather, author Ernest Hemingway, took his own life, Mariel came into the world. She seemed destined to remain in the shadow of her famous grandfather as well as her older sister, model Margaux Hemingway. But Mariel quickly made her own mark as an actress. She is best remembered on screen in Woody Allen's Manhatten, for which she earned an Oscar nomination.

A couple of weeks ago I expressed my disappointment with Geico. The auto insurance provider enticed my parents to leave the insurance provider they had used for nearly 15 years by offering them lower rates. Then, after one year of faultless driving, Geico substantially raised their premium. When my parents called into customer service for an exploration, they were told that their sales rep must have overlooked accidents on their driving record prior to joining Geico. It smelled like a bait and switch.

My column prompted a lively discussion on the Right Reality blog, including a frank letter from a Geico employee who understandably chose to withhold his or her name.

I just received notice from my primary employer, the university, that my personal contribution to cover health care premiums will rise 20 percent per year for the next 3 years. My per medical visit deductible fee also went up 50 percent. I promised that my family would not fall ill anymore, but my plea fell on deaf ears.

If you work for a U.S. company, I am sure you could share your own story of rising medical insurance costs; that is, if your employer still covers you. Employer-sponsored health insurance is becoming scarcer and more costly according to the annual health coverage survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Educational Trust. Their report shows that premiums for job-based health insurance is rising 9.2 percent on average nationwide in 2005, about three times the general rate of inflation. More worrying, the slice of companies even providing health benefits to employees dropped to 60 percent in 2005, down from 69 percent in 2000.

Before proceeding, I must put forth a disclaimer: It is never a good idea to mess with a columnist with international distribution. Worse yet, never mess with his parents. Geico Insurance did just that.

My parents, both in their mid-70s, switched to Geico a bit over six months ago. They twice had been involved in fender bender accidents in parking lots so State Farm, which had previously insured them, raised their rates dramatically. The fact they had been paying premiums to State Farm for over two decades without an accident or speeding ticket did not matter, of course. That particular inequity we can pursue on another day.