Florida health insurance costs grow at triple the rate of income : Brian Bandell
A study by Families USA found that health insurance premiums grew 3.7 times faster than personal incomes for most of the past decade.
The nonprofit organization released the report Thursday in its efforts to drum up support for the health care reform bills pending in Congress. U.S. Reps. Kendrick Meek and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, both Florida Democrats, said health care reform would make health insurance more affordable for Floridians.
According to the Families USA study, the average total family health insurance premium in Florida increased from $6,812 in 2000 to $13,497 in 2009 ' a 98.1 percent growth rate. Employees felt much of that increase, as the workers' portion of the insurance premium increased 138.6 percent, compared to 81.7 percent for the employers' portion.
At the same time, the average earnings of Florida workers increased 26.7 percent, to $28,836 from $22,753.
'Rising health care costs threaten the financial well being of Floridians and people across the nation,' said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, during a conference call. 'If health care reform doesn't happen soon, many more families could be priced out and more businesses would become uncompetitive.'
Both Meek and Wasserman Schultz said the proposed public health care plan, which would be in addition to private coverage, would make health insurance more affordable. It would also make sure that insurance companies could not deny people coverage or drop them for pre-existing medical conditions.
Meek noted that people wouldn't be forced to give up their private coverage, but it should bring the cost down because of the competition with the low-cost public plan.
'The public option will keep the private insurance companies honest,' Meek said.
Some health care providers are concerned that the public plan wouldn't pay them enough to fully compensate them for treating patients. The pending bills call on the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate the payment rates. It is not clear what the outcome of that process would be.
Wasserman Schultz said the cost of keeping the current health care system is unsustainable, as health care spending continues escalating. It has already taken its toll in Florida, where 20 percent are uninsured and 1,210 personal bankruptcy filings in 2008 were related to health care debts.
On top of the near doubling of health care premiums in Florida, most health plans have raised deductibles and copayments on employees, while reducing the amount of benefit offered, she said.
'This is why national health care reform, although extremely important to Floridians without coverage, is also of paramount concern to Floridians who have coverage,' Wasserman Schultz said.
For small businesses that can't afford insurance, Pollack said health reform would help them through subsidies to buy insurance plans.
Two of the proposed health care reform bills would expand Medicaid eligibility by increasing the income level permitted by enrollees. A separate report by Florida Community Health Action Information Network (CHAIN) said these plans could provide Medicaid coverage to as many as 1.5 million additional Floridians. The state had 2.5 million Medicaid enrollees in July.
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