See this article as it originally appeared in The State Journal.

Each of the past four years, without fail, Business owners and employers in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio have braced themselves for the inevitable — double-digit increases in medical coverage renewals charge by insurers.

Earlier this year, when Cowden Associates released results of its annual Tri-State Area Medical Benefi5ts survey, there was muted celebration in the region when the survey revealed the reneal increase in 2005 was only 9 percent...