Differential wage pass through Differential wage pass-through can occur whenever employers can observe elevated health risks among their employees. Technically,passing lower wages through to sicker workers is illegal in the US,but wage discrimination is difficult to detect,and there is evidence that people who have higher expected medical expenditures do earn less. Bhattacharya,Hyde and Tu-HealthEconomics Bhattacharya, Hyde and Tu – Health Economics Differential wage pass through • Differential wage pass-through can occur whenever employers can observe elevated health risks among their employees. • Technically, passing lower wages through to sicker workers is illegal in the US, but wage discrimination is difficult to detect, and there is evidence that people who have higher expected medical expenditures do earn less