CA HEALTH CARE 2005 -- PRICED OUT
- According to a 2003 New England Journal of Medicine study, administrative and other non-medical care costs accounted for 31 cents of every dollar spent on health care in the U.S. in 2003, compared to only 17 cents in Canada.
- In 2005, the United States will spend 15.6% of its total economic output, an estimated $1.9 trillion, on health care, a higher rate than at any other time in U.S. history.
- Since 1970, the growth in health care expenditures has consistently exceeded inflation. Health care spending per capita is 16.3 times higher today than it was in 1970, while inflation is only 4.7 times greater than 1970 levels.
- Prescription drugs continue to be the fastest growing segment in health care spending. In 2003, prescription drug costs increased 10.7% or $17 billion, marking the eighth consecutive year of double-digit growth. Over the past two decades, U.S. spending on prescription drugs has increased tenfold, growing from $17 billion or 4.9% of spending in 1983 to $179 billion or 11% of spending in 2003.
- More firms are reducing their benefits. Last year 15% of large employers reported reducing their health care benefits from the previous years.
- Americans are paying more out-of-pocket than ever before for health insurance. As employers struggle to keep up with rising health care costs, more and more costs are being shifted to employees. In 2003, annual out-of-pocket costs averaged $779 per person.
- For employer-sponsored coverage, the percentage of policies with a total monthly insurance premium of $950 or more for family coverage increased from 2% in 2001 to 20% in 2004.
- Rising health care costs are a burden for manufacturers. General Motors, the world's largest automaker, spends $5 billion a year on health care costs, with future cost obligations estimated at more than $60 billion. In 2004, G.M. spent $1,525 on health care for every vehicle it produced.
- It is estimated that nearly half of all bankruptcies in the U.S. are due to health care costs and three-quarter of individuals declaring bankruptcy for health reasons were enrolled in health insurance.
- From 2000 to 2004, health care insurance premiums increased 61% in California--with double-digit increases each year. Premium increases in California have outpaced the rest of the country for each of the past three years. More importantly, this double-digit annual premium growth far outstrips the national growth of inflation, which averaged around 2% annually over the same period.
- In 2004 alone, California health insurance premiums increased nearly 7 times faster than inflation. In 2004, California health insurance premiums rose a budget busting 11.4%, in contrast to a modest 1.7% rise in California's inflation rate.
- California families pay $1,500 more per year for PPOs than the rest of the country. Although health insurance in California costs only slightly more than the U.S. average across all health plans, PPO plans are significantly more expensive in California than the U.S. average. A PPO plan for a California family of four on average costs $11,772 annually.
- Fewer California businesses offer insurance than elsewhere in the U.S.
- California has one of the highest uninsured population rates in the country, with more than 21% of the non-elderly lacking coverage.
- About three-quarters of California's uninsured live in households with a full-time worker.
- California ranks 51st in funding per Medicaid beneficiary--behind every state and Washington D.C.
--From the 2005 California Department of Insurance report "Priced Out, Chapter 1"
