About Health Care Costs

According to the National Coalition on Health Care, people and businesses in the United States spent a total of $7,900 per person for health care costs in 2007. In fact, health care costs in 2007 were 17 percent of the total gross national product (GDP). The NCHC estimates that by 2017, health care costs in the United States will reach $4.3 trillion, about 20 percent of the GDP.

Significance

• A study at Harvard University found that health care costs were a factor in 50 percent of all bankruptcies filed, even though 68 percent of all those who filed for bankruptcy had health insurance. A 2005 study by the Access Project in Boston suggested that health care costs were a primary cause of more than 25 percent of all housing problems.

Individual Health Care Costs

• Since 2000, the average worker contribution to an employee-sponsored health care plan has risen by 120 percent. Out-of-pocket medical expenses for a family of four has risen an additional 115 percent. In 2008, nearly 40 percent of all families in the United States paid over $2,000 in out-of-pocket expenses for health care.

Employer Health Care Costs

• The cost of providing health insurance for employees rose an average of 5 percent from 2007 to 2008. In 2008, the average health insurance premium for a family of four in an employee-sponsored health plan was $12,700, nearly $2,000 higher than the annual minimum wage earnings of a full-time employee.

Considerations

• Uninsured people are generally charged more for all medical services than the health insurance companies. In 2005, Families USA found that health care provided to those without health insurance will add over $1,500 to the average health insurance plan by 2010.

Misconceptions

• Trying to control health care costs by cutting out basic health care can backfire. Preventive health care like annual physicals and recommended diagnostic tests can reduce health care costs by preventing illnesses or catching them early.