Study: Hoosier health insurance rises 7 times faster than income

Font Size:

BY SUSAN ERLER
serler@nwitimes.com
219.548.4349 | Wednesday, September 24, 2008 | (1 comment(s))

The cost of health insurance climbed faster than median wages in Indiana in the first eight years of the decade, a report released Tuesday by nonprofit group Families USA states.

The consumer health care advocacy organization said family health insurance premiums for Indiana's workers rose 7.3 times more quickly than median earnings between 2000 and 2007, compared to the rest of the nation, where premiums grew 5.4 times faster than earnings.

"Indiana has the fourth highest ratio of all the states in the country," Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack said during a conference call detailing the report, "Premiums versus Paychecks."

Slow wage growth in Indiana contributed to the high premium-to-paycheck ratio, Pollack said.

Total spending on health insurance premiums in Indiana per worker climbed 83 percent to $12,153 in 2007 from $6,628 in 2000, according to the report.

In the same period, median earnings of Indiana workers rose by 11.4 percent to $27,330 from $24,531, based on data from premiums obtained through employer-sponsored insurance and from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services, the group reported.

Indiana's ranking was "largely a factor of the economy of the Midwest," Pollack said.

Michigan, home to much of the troubled auto industry, had the highest ratio of premium-to-paycheck increase, and Ohio had the second highest, Pollack said.

A spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, representing 1,300 U.S. health insurance providers, said the organization is working to reduce the rising health care costs, which drive insurance costs.

"We recognize that rising health care costs are a burden," spokesman Robert Zirkelbach said. "What's really driving health care costs are overuse, underuse and misuse of medical services across the country."

Pollack said premiums rose even though consumers now pay for "thinner coverage with fewer benefits and higher deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance."

Fifteen years ago, Indiana had one of the highest rates in the nation for private health insurance coverage, said David Roos, executive director of Covering Kids & Families of Indiana, who took part in the Families USA teleconference.

The state has expanded public coverage through its Hoosier Healthwise and Healthy Indiana Plan, Roos said, resulting in a 2.1 percent reduction in the number of uninsured.

But that increase is "too little, too late," Roos said.

Back to story 1 comment(s)

Please note: Comments from readers will be screened and may not be posted immediately. If you don't see your comment perhaps:

It wasn't clear, concise or focused on the topic in the story.
It was a personal attack, vulgar, explicit or degrading, used actual or implied profanity or contained potentially libelous statements.
It accused someone of being guilty of a crime.
It promoted violence or illegal acts.
It contained telephone numbers or street addresses, or e-mail addresses and links to Web sites other than nwi.com or government agencies.

In no way do these comments represent the views of The Times or Lee Enterprises.

Passionate views, pointed criticism and critical thinking are welcome. Name-calling, crude and profane language and personal abuse are not welcome.

Reader comments will not be edited - they will be approved or declined. They may be used in the print edition of the newspaper.

If you feel a posted comment has violated these guidelines, please email our New Media team the commenter's name, the comment and a link to the article.

For more information please read our Terms of Service.

goldwater wrote on Sep 24, 2008 12:26 PM:

" Not to mention the high rates of tobacco use and obesity. But wait, Hoosiers have a right to smoke, don't they? "

Back to story 1 comment(s)

Post a comment Once your comments are approved, they will appear here.

Marketplace

Sections

Services

Other Publications

Search