Employers should expect to see their 2011 health care premiums to increase at their highest levels in five years, according to an analysis by Hewitt Associates.

The consulting firm projects an 8.8 percent average premium increase for employers, compared to 6.9 percent in 2010 and 6.0 percent in 2009.

Hertz Global Holding's $1.2 billion deal for Dollar Thrifty shows that cleaning up a corporate balance sheet can pay off. But finance executives who go to the trouble in hopes shareholders will be rewarded by an acquirer shouldn't count on a big premium.

The new executive team at car renter Dollar Thrifty spent the last year strengthening the company's balance sheet after Scott Thompson joined as chief executive in the fall of 2008 and began a turnaround effort.

An increasing number of private and public employers are forcing obese employees, or those who smoke,  to pay more for health insurance.

For example, North Carolina just became the second state to charge obese state employees higher rates (Alabama was the first); it's also going to demand the same for smokers, who will be placed in a more expensive insurance plan starting this summer. (Obese folks have until July, 2011).  Apparently, you need to have a BMI of up to 40 to get the lower rate.