'Hidden Health Tax' for Family Health Care Coverage Climbed to $1,0... ( According to the Families USA rep...)

'Hidden Health Tax' for Family Health Care Coverage Climbed to $1,017 in 2008

Date:5/28/2009

According to the Families USA report, "uninsured people are less likely to get the care they need when they need it, and they are more likely to delay seeking care as long as possible." When they do receive care, it is paid for in several ways:

More than one-third (37 percent) of that care is paid by the uninsured themselves out of their own pockets;
Third-party sources, such as government programs and charities, paid for another 26 percent of that care; and
The remaining amount, approximately $42.7 billion in 2008, is considered uncompensated care; those costs are shifted onto the health care bills of insured people, ultimately resulting in the hidden health tax through higher premiums.

Based on the Milliman, Inc. data, the uncompensated care cost in 2008 across the insured, non-Medicare, non-Medicaid population was $1,017 per insured family and $368 per insured single person.

Based on a previous Families USA report about the hidden health tax in 2005 -- using the same federal data sources used by Milliman, Inc. but arrayed by Dr. Kenneth Thorpe, Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University -- the hidden health tax has grown: for family health coverage it grew from $922 to $1,017 and for individual coverage it grew from $341 to $368.

"Due to the economic downturn, more and more people are losing their jobs and their health care coverage," said Pollack. "As a result, it is highly likely that the hidden health tax for 2009, which is not yet known, will be considerably higher than the $1,017 amount experienced in 2008."

"This new Families USA report shows why all Americans will benefit from health care reform and should push stakeholders to make health insurance work for everyone as soon as possible," said Ronald A. Williams, Chairm
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'Hidden Health Tax' for Family Health Care Coverage Climbed to $1,0...( According to the Families USA rep...),Health