Washington, D.C. – Health care premiums rose an estimated 4.6 times faster than earnings for Alaska’s working families from 2000 to 2006, according to a report issued today by the consumer health organization Families USA. In that six-year period, health care premiums rose by 65.0 percent, while median earnings rose by only 14.3 percent.
The Families USA report is the first of its kind to document these changes on a state-specific basis. Among the key findings in the report are:
• For family health coverage provided through the workplace in Alaska, annual health insurance premiums in the 2000-2006 period rose from $7,456 to $12,303, an increase of $4,846, or 65.0 percent.
• Between 2000 and 2006, the median earnings of Alaska’s workers increased from $27,373 to $31,275, or 14.3 percent.
According to the report, the disproportionately high increases in insurance premiums occurred despite the provision of “thinner coverage” to workers—coverage that offers fewer benefits and/or that comes with higher deductibles, copayments, and co-insurance. As a result, Alaska families are paying more but receiving less health care coverage.
The Families USA report concludes that the confluence of higher health costs and stagnant wages is causing a growing number of Alaska families to join the ranks of the uninsured and underinsured. The number of non-elderly uninsured people in Alaska is nearly 113,000, approximately 18.4 percent of the non-elderly population.
“Alaska families have been hit hard in the pocketbooks due to skyrocketing health costs and stagnant wages,” said Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA. “As a result, Alaskans are paying much larger portions of their paychecks on health care, and health care is becoming less and less affordable.”
The key findings in the report provide data concerning premiums for family health coverage as well as individual coverage. They also break out the premium costs paid by employers and those paid by employees. The key findings include:
• For family health coverage in Alaska , the employer’s portion of annual premiums in the 2000-2006 period rose from $5,484 to $9,584, an increase of 74.8 percent.
• For family health coverage, the worker’s portion of annual premiums rose from $1,972 to $2,719, an increase of 37.9 percent.
• For individual health coverage, the employer’s portion of annual premiums rose from $2,552 to $4,698, an increase of 84.1 percent.
• For individual health coverage, the worker’s portion of annual premiums rose from $371 to $653, an increase of 75.9 percent.
According to the report, these fast-rising health care costs are causing increasing numbers of people to go into debt. The report cites a study that found that more than half of bankruptcies are now due, at least in part, to problems with medical costs.
“If this troubling trend continues, the health care affordability crisis will get much worse, and many more Alaskans will become uninsured and underinsured,” said Pollack. “If earnings continue to lag behind fast-rising health care costs, Alaskans will face diminishing economic and health security. It is high time for national leaders to address this growing problem and make it a top national priority.”
The Families USA report is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
