'Hidden Health Tax' for Family Health Care Coverage Climbed to $1,017 in 2008
Posted on: Thursday, 28 May 2009, 08:30 CDT
The 'Hidden Health Tax' is the Undisclosed Premium Surcharge that Pays for the Uncompensated Health Care Costs of the Uninsured
As More People Join the Ranks of the Uninsured, the 'Hidden Health Tax' Continues to Grow; It is Likely to be Much Higher in 2009
The hidden health tax is the undisclosed insurance premium surcharge, paid by America's businesses and insured families, when they purchase health insurance. That surcharge subsidizes the uncompensated health care costs of the uninsured.
"As more people join the ranks of the uninsured, the hidden health tax is growing," said
"Reforming our health care system is not just a moral imperative -- it's an economic necessity," said Senator
Families
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
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.
"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
"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
"This research shows that the market in which we buy our healthcare is filled with cross-subsidies, making it dysfunctional and unsustainable," said
The data for the report were based on the federal Medical Expenditures Panel Survey as well as other federal and private data sources. For a full description of the methodology used to array the numbers in the report, see the Technical Appendix to the report.
Families
SOURCE Families USA
Source: PR Newswire
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