High health care costs in U.S. found to impact incomes, says new study
Posted on : 2006-12-13 | Author : Emma Price
News Category : Health
WASHINGTON: An increasing number of Americans are compelled to spend large parts of their income on health care and more number of middle class citizens are spending disproportionately on medical care expenses, according to a study.
On an average, health care costs now account for more than 10 per cent of the family's income of some 50 million Americans under 65, the study revealed. The number has risen to this level from 10 million 10 years ago.
The study was carried out by researchers at the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which is part of the U.S. department of health and human services. It is based on federal consumer surveys during 1996-2003 on out-of-pocket health care costs.
Co-author of the study Jessica Banthin said there has been a large increase in the number of people living with these kinds of financial burdens.
The researchers found that the prevalence of high financial burdens on account of health care increased across the population as a whole and among several subgroups between 1996 and 2003. They say by 2003 there were 48.8 million individuals (19.2 per cent of the non-elderly population) living in families that spent more than 10 per cent of household income on medical care. This is an increase of 1.7 million people since 1996. Of these, 18.7 million, or 7.3 per cent of the total population, were in families spending more than 20 per cent of family income on medical care.
Low income individuals, those with individual coverage, those in pre-retirement age bracket, women, people living outside metro areas and people with severe medical conditions are more likely to face higher-than-average health care costs, the researchers felt.
Banthin said there were instances where people either delayed or gave up medical care because of high out-of-pocket burdens. This is bound to have serious consequences.
People in non-group plans appeared to have much higher healthcare costs than people with any other type of insurance and even those who lack insurance altogether, according to the researchers.
They said 17.1 million people had inadequate financial protection from high out-of-pocket costs in 2003, including 9.3 million who were in private, employment-related plans, 1.3 million with individual coverage and 6.6 million with public coverage.
According to statistics, out-of-pocket payment for health care by patients increased from $162 billion in 1997 to $236 billion in 2004, when the total national health bill stood at $2 trillion.
The details of the study appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/13488.html
News Category : Health
WASHINGTON: An increasing number of Americans are compelled to spend large parts of their income on health care and more number of middle class citizens are spending disproportionately on medical care expenses, according to a study.
On an average, health care costs now account for more than 10 per cent of the family's income of some 50 million Americans under 65, the study revealed. The number has risen to this level from 10 million 10 years ago.
The study was carried out by researchers at the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which is part of the U.S. department of health and human services. It is based on federal consumer surveys during 1996-2003 on out-of-pocket health care costs.
Co-author of the study Jessica Banthin said there has been a large increase in the number of people living with these kinds of financial burdens.
The researchers found that the prevalence of high financial burdens on account of health care increased across the population as a whole and among several subgroups between 1996 and 2003. They say by 2003 there were 48.8 million individuals (19.2 per cent of the non-elderly population) living in families that spent more than 10 per cent of household income on medical care. This is an increase of 1.7 million people since 1996. Of these, 18.7 million, or 7.3 per cent of the total population, were in families spending more than 20 per cent of family income on medical care.
Low income individuals, those with individual coverage, those in pre-retirement age bracket, women, people living outside metro areas and people with severe medical conditions are more likely to face higher-than-average health care costs, the researchers felt.
Banthin said there were instances where people either delayed or gave up medical care because of high out-of-pocket burdens. This is bound to have serious consequences.
People in non-group plans appeared to have much higher healthcare costs than people with any other type of insurance and even those who lack insurance altogether, according to the researchers.
They said 17.1 million people had inadequate financial protection from high out-of-pocket costs in 2003, including 9.3 million who were in private, employment-related plans, 1.3 million with individual coverage and 6.6 million with public coverage.
According to statistics, out-of-pocket payment for health care by patients increased from $162 billion in 1997 to $236 billion in 2004, when the total national health bill stood at $2 trillion.
The details of the study appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/13488.html
posted by Bill at 4:36 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home