Provide a topic sentence for each of the following paragraphs:

a. ___________________________________. Rising health-insurance premiums make American businesses less competitive and decrease workers’ salaries. Health-care costs make up an increasing proportion of state and federal budgets, weakening the nation’s financial outlook, diverting resources from other pressing national priorities. Perhaps the most important outcome is that millions of Americans are priced out of the market, unable to afford the health-care services that they desperately need to become fully productive in the economy.

b. ___________________________. The reason for this difference is that a larger percentage of engineers working in small firms may be expected to hold high-level positions. In firms with fewer than 20 engineers, for example, the median income was $62,200. In firms of 20 to 200 engineers, the median income was $60,345. For the largest firms, the median was $58,600.