Escalating Health Care Costs

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Escalating Health Care Costs Diminishing Access to Care Persistent Gaps in Quality Sources PDF Version Email Page


	Show Introduction Introduction Americans across the country are demanding comprehensive health reform and cannot afford to wait any longer for Washington to act. Businesses and families are struggling as costs continue to skyrocket. More and more Americans find themselves uninsured. Those Americans fortunate enough to have health insurance often don't get the quality care they need and deserve. The Costs of Inaction highlights the flaws in the health care system and demonstrates the cost of maintaining the status quo. Organized into three sections - Escalating Health Care Costs, Diminishing Access to Care and Persistent Gaps in Quality - the report shows how the current system has failed millions of Americans and why we must enact comprehensive health reform this year.
	Escalating Health Care Costs Introduction Americans across the country are demanding comprehensive health reform and cannot afford to wait any longer for Washington to act. Businesses and families are struggling as costs continue to skyrocket. More and more Americans find themselves uninsured. Those Americans fortunate enough to have health insurance often don't get the quality care they need and deserve. The Costs of Inaction highlights the flaws in the health care system and demonstrates the cost of maintaining the status quo. Organized into three sections - Escalating Health Care Costs, Diminishing Access to Care and Persistent Gaps in Quality - the report shows how the current system has failed millions of Americans and why we must enact comprehensive health reform this year. Families, business, and state and federal budgets are straining under skyrocketing health care costs. Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have more than doubled in the last 9 years, a rate 3 times faster than cumulative wage increases.¹ The United States spent approximately $2.2 trillion on health care in 2007, or $7,421 per person.² This comes to 16.2% of GDP, nearly twice the average of other developed nations.³ Health care costs doubled from 1996 to 2006, and are projected to rise to 25% of GDP in 2025 and 49% in 2082.⁴ The proportion of spending attributable to Medicare and Medicaid in the health system is expected to rise from 4 percent of GDP in 2007 to 19 percent of GDP in 2082, making it the principle driving force behind rising federal spending in the decades to come.⁵ Health care costs add $1,525 to the price of every General Motors vehicle. The company spent $4.6 billion on health care in 2007, more than the cost of steel.⁶ As a result of these crushing health care costs, American businesses are losing their ability to compete in the global marketplace. Health care at General Motors puts the company at a $5 billion disadvantage against Toyota, which spends $1,400 less on health care per vehicle.⁷^,8 The average cost of an employer-based family insurance policy in 2008 was $12,680, which was nearly the annual earnings of a full-time minimum wage job.⁹ From 2000 to 2008, the percentage of employees with an annual deductible greater than $1000 increased from 1% to 18%. Among small businesses, more than one in three workers must spend at least $1000 out of pocket before their health benefits kick in.¹⁰ Half of all personal bankruptcies are at least partly the result of medical expenses.¹¹ The typical elderly couple may have to save nearly $300,000 to pay for health costs not covered by Medicare alone.¹² Eight in ten Americans are dissatisfied with the total cost of health care,¹³ and over half report paying for the cost of a major illness as a major problem.¹⁴ Next: Diminishing Access to Care >	Source¹ Source⁶