Without some mechanism for encouraging workers to choose the cheapest plan available, he said, costs would continue to grow.

That would encourage many workers to choose cheaper plans.

The only reason why it, and Sprint have been offering cheap plans is because they are both doing so badly.

And still, despite the cheap plans, both continue to do badly.

But the company, like most of corporate America, has been reluctant to force its employees into the cheapest plan.

But it's because the cheaper plans are a terrible value.

The budget conscious will need a very cheap plan to compel them to spend more money.

An alternative is to buy a cheap local plan.

"Turned out that a cheaper plan is actually better at my salary," she said.

And employees wonder whether they can afford even the cheapest plans.