Unaffordable health care
It's amazing how little attention rising health care costs have received during this election campaign. The Iraq war, the Foley scandal, immigration and taxes seem to have drowned it out. Hopefully, that will change with the release today of a report by Families USA that health care premiums in New Jersey rose nearly 80 percent since 2000 -- 51/2 times faster than the earnings of working families, which increased just 14 percent.
According to the report, nearly 1.3 million non-elderly people in New Jersey are uninsured -- about 17 percent of the non-elderly population.
For family health coverage provided through the workplace in New Jersey, annual health insurance premiums rose from $7,592 to $13,620 between 2000 and 2006. The employee share of annual premiums increased 39.6 percent, from $1,610 to $2,247, while the employer share rose 90.1 percent, from $5,982 to $11,373. At the same time premiums have soared, coverage has been reduced, and deductibles and co-pays have increased.
The report offers no suggestions for what to do about the problem, other than urging national leaders to make solving it a top priority. Families USA has, however, called for universal coverage of the nation's 9 million uninsured children.
According to the report, nearly 1.3 million non-elderly people in New Jersey are uninsured -- about 17 percent of the non-elderly population.
For family health coverage provided through the workplace in New Jersey, annual health insurance premiums rose from $7,592 to $13,620 between 2000 and 2006. The employee share of annual premiums increased 39.6 percent, from $1,610 to $2,247, while the employer share rose 90.1 percent, from $5,982 to $11,373. At the same time premiums have soared, coverage has been reduced, and deductibles and co-pays have increased.
The report offers no suggestions for what to do about the problem, other than urging national leaders to make solving it a top priority. Families USA has, however, called for universal coverage of the nation's 9 million uninsured children.
posted by Randy Bergmann at 1:25 PM
1 Comments:
the first step is to move to a single payor system. just do the math - the administrative costs currently eat up approximately 25 cents of every insurance dollar we spend vs. 15 cents in european systems and nearly 10 times what it costs the government to administer medicare. insurance company profits are at all time highs - WellPoint made over $2 billion in profits in 2005, up 156% from 2004, and united health care's CEO is embroiled in an options scandal netting him personally $1.8 billion.
more over, we need to practice efficient medicine, which can be more easily monitored by a single payor with a single system.
it's time to get rid of the stigma and do the math - get rid of excess profits and administrative costs or else watch as the HMOs continue to put money in their pockets at our expense.
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