Report: Health insurance costs in Arkansas rising faster than wages

[Bozita]

http://arkansasnews.com/2009/06/23/report-health-insurance-costs-in-arkansas-rising-faster-than-wages/

Report: Health insurance costs in Arkansas rising faster than wages
Posted on 23 June 2009
By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau


LITTLE ROCK — Health insurance premiums for working Arkansas families increased 5.7 times faster than wages between 2000 and 2007, according to a new study by a group pushing for a national public health insurance plan.

The study by Washington, D.C.-based Health Care for America Now! cites government statistics to support the argument that without significant reform, health insurance will soon be out of reach for most Americans.

The report’s statistics on Arkansas are “startling,” said Neil Sealy, chief organizer for the community activist group Arkansas ACORN, at a news conference Tuesday.

“It’s an important study that’s come out,” Sealy said. “There’s a moral issue. Our working people who are working hard, playing by the rules, trying to earn a living for their family — the cost of health insurance just is outpacing their wages.”

According to the study:
—The average cost of family health coverage in Arkansas increased from $6,355 to $10,534, or 66 percent, between 2000 and 2007. During the same period, the median earnings of Arkansas workers increased from $20,328 to $22,692, or 12 percent.
—The cost of family health care coverage in Arkansas equaled 27 percent of the median family income in 2007 and would grow to 48 percent by 2016 without reform.
—The full cost of employer-sponsored health insurance in Arkansas is projected to grow at 8.1 percent annually, compared with a 1.4 percent projected annual increase nationally.
—The average Arkansas employer’s portion of family health coverage rose 56 percent between 2000 and 2007, while the average worker’s portion rose 91 percent.
—About 260,000 working non-elderly adults in Arkansas do not have health insurance.
—In Arkansas in 2008 there were 13,489 non-business bankruptcies. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently estimated that 62 percent of bankruptcies nationwide are directly related to medical bills.

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[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Heath costs are going to go up like housing. It's the next bubble.

[pnwmom]

2. That's true for ALL Americans, not just those in Arkansas. n/t