Neil's Spotlight Report says Hawaii health insurance premiums average nearly $11,000 for many
June 26, 2009
DHHS News Release: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has released a series of new reports on the health care status quo that highlight the urgent need for health reform across the nation.
The new reports are available at www.HealthReform.gov and include information on health care cost and quality in all fifty states.
“In states across the country, health care costs are going up and families are struggling to get the quality care they need and deserve,” said Sebelius. “We cannot wait to pass reform that protects what works about health care and fixes what’s broken.”
Each report includes data regarding the health care status quo such as:
Percent increase in family premiums since 2000.
The hidden tax individuals and families pay as a result of subsidizing care for the uninsured.
Percent of state residents without insurance.
Overall quality ratings for health care in each state.
The impact of failing to adequately invest in preventative measures that could prevent disease and illness.
“The American people have been calling for reform, and they should not have to wait any longer,” added Sebelius. “Health reform will assure quality affordable health care for all Americans, lower costs, and give more Americans the choices they deserve. The time for reform is now.”
(Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.)
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THE HEALTH CARE STATUS QUO:
Why Hawaii Needs Health Reform
Congress and the President are working to enact health care reform legislation that protects what works about health care and fixes what is broken. Hawaiians know that inaction is not an option. Sky-rocketing health care costs are hurting families, forcing businesses to cut or drop health benefits, and straining state budgets. Hawaiians are paying more for less. Families and businesses in Hawaii deserve better.
HAWAII CAN’T AFFORD THE STATUS QUO
Roughly 891,000 people in Hawaii get health insurance on the job1, where family premiums average $10,906, about the annual earning of a full-time minimum wage job.2
Since 2000 alone, average family premiums have increased by 56 percent in Hawaii.3
Household budgets are strained by high costs: 19 percent of middle-income Hawaii families spend more than 10 percent of their income on health care.4
High costs block access to care: 6 percent of people in Hawaii report not visiting a doctor due to high costs.5
Hawaii businesses and families shoulder a hidden health tax of roughly $700 per year on premiums as a direct result of subsidizing the costs of the uninsured.6
AFFORDABLE HEALTH COVERAGE IS INCREASINGLY OUT OF REACH IN HAWAII
8 percent of people in Hawaii are uninsured, and 55 percent of them are in families with at least one full-time worker.7
The percent of Hawaiians with employer coverage remained steady at 70 percent between 2000 and 2007.8
While small businesses make up 72 percent of Hawaii businesses,9 only 86 percent of them offered health coverage benefits in 2006.10
Choice of health insurance is limited in Hawaii. Blue Cross Blue Shield HI alone constitutes 78 percent of the health insurance market share in Hawaii, with the top two insurance providers accounting for 98 percent.11
Choice is even more limited for people with pre-existing conditions. In Hawaii, premiums can vary based on demographic factors and health status, and coverage can exclude pre-existing conditions or even be denied completely in some cases.
HAWAIIANS NEED HIGHER QUALITY, GREATER VALUE, AND MORE PREVENTATIVE CARE
The overall quality of care in Hawaii is rated as “Average.”12
Preventative measures that could keep Hawaiians healthier and out of the hospital are deficient, leading to problems across the age spectrum:
11 percent of children in Hawaii are obese.13
18 percent of women over the age of 50 in Hawaii have not received a mammogram in the past two years.
40 percent of men over the age of 50 in Hawaii have never had a colorectal cancer screening.
78 percent of adults over the age of 65 in Hawaii have received a flu vaccine in the past year.14
The need for reform in Hawaii and across the country is clear. Hawaii families simply can’t afford the status quo and deserve better. President Obama is committed to working with Congress to pass health reform this year that reduces costs for families, businesses and government; protects people’s choice of doctors, hospitals and health plans; and assures affordable, quality health care for all Americans.
1 U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey. HIA-4 Health Insurance Coverage Status and Type of Coverage by State--All Persons: 1999 to 2007, 2007. 2 Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - Insurance Component, 2006, Table X.D. Projected 2009 premiums based on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, "National Health Expenditure Data," available at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/nationalhealthexpenddata/. 3 Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - Insurance Component, 2000, Table II.D.1. Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - Insurance Component, 2006, Table X.D. Projected 2009 premiums based on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, "National Health Expenditure Data," available at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/nationalhealthexpenddata/. 4 Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2006. 5 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007. 6 Furnas, B., Harbage, P. (2009). "The Cost Shift from the Uninsured." Center for American Progress. 7 U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey. Annual Social and Economic Supplements, March 2007 and 2008. 8 U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey. HIA-4 Health Insurance Coverage Status and Type of Coverage by State--All Persons: 1999 to 2007, 2007. 9 Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - Insurance Component, 2006, Table II.A.1a. 10 Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - Insurance Component, 2001, 2006, Table II.A.2. 11 Health Care for America Now. (2009). "Premiums Soaring in Consolidated Health Insurance Market." Health Care for America Now. 12 Agency for Health Care Research and Quality. 2007 State Snapshots. Available http://statesnapshots.ahrq.gov/snaps07/index.jsp. 13 Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative. 2007 National Survey of Children's Health, Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health. 14 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007.
