Recent Trends Show Health Care Problem in America is Getting Worse: Increasing Costs and Risking Lives
It’s estimated that Americans pay twice as much for health insurance and medical services than citizens of other wealthy countries, however, we don’t have better outcomes. As noted in a recent article by Atlantic Monthly, The cost of health coverage has become an overwhelming burden for most Americans; with rising cost outpacing wage increases.
Prices have soared in the past decade; just from 2010 to 2016, family private-insurance premiums jumped 28% while average household incomes did not even reach growth of 20%. Workers are taking home less pay and required to pay more than they can afford, just to make sure their family is covered. The rise in health coverage has pushed Americans into extreme debt and even bankruptcy. However, the most devastating fact is that 34 million Americans have lost a family member or friend in the last five years, not because a treatment didn’t exist, but because they couldn’t afford it! The system is broken.
Average person on #Medicare spends $5,460 on #healthcare beyond insurance yearly. Average person on #Medicaid nearly half that. No wonder two in three bankruptcies are related to medical issues,
The great affordability crisis breaking America https://t.co/Cm83xjaU3P pic.twitter.com/iizN4bs8K6
— Teddy Snyder (@SnyderMediation) February 10, 2020
Note that a significant contributor here is the cost of healthcare, rising at DOUBLE the rate of family incomes. Our industry must start taking this issue seriously. #healthcareaffordability #healthreform #healthpolicy #health https://t.co/yzu8cfnfnJ
— DMoller Associates (@DMollerAssoc) February 9, 2020