Report: Health Insurance Gobbling Up More Income Than Ever

THIS IS WHY THE “RECOVERY” ISN’T SUSTAINABLE …

|| By FITSNEWS || A new report from the Commonwealth Fund – which last month released a national overview of rising health care costs – shows similarly disturbing trends at the state level.  And while premium increases are modestly lower since the implementation of U.S. president Barack Obama‘s socialized medicine plan – a flat economy has resulted in Americans paying a much higher percentage of their incomes toward insurance.

In fact premium increases have outpaced income growth in every single U.S. state over the ten-year period from 2003-13.

“In all but a handful of states, average deductibles more than doubled over the past decade for employees working in large and small firms,” the report found. “Workers are paying more but getting less protective benefits. Costs are particularly high, compared with median income, in Southern and South Central states, where incomes are below the national average.”

Currently, the average insurance premium consumes 28 percent of median income – or roughly $16,000 a year.

Yeah … ouch.

(To read the study’s overview, CLICK HERE.  To access its interactive map, CLICK HERE).

Why is it important to consider these premium increases within the context of income levels?

“The decade of flat income meant that employees had to increase their insurance payments by as much as 175 percent, with workers in the South getting slammed the hardest,” reporter Paul Bedard of The Washington Times noted.

And what does that mean for the ongoing “recovery?”

“If the stats are true, there never will be a consumer recovery,” said the source who provided us with a copy of the study.

We agree …

Oh, and the report also noted that “recent forecasts … predict an uptick in private insurance growth rates starting in 2015.”

Which means “expensive” is about to get “expensiver.”

Years ago, we warned that U.S. president Barack Obama‘s socialized medicine monstrosity was going to be disastrous for the American economy – and we were right (see HERE, HERE and HERE).  As a candidate in 2008, Obama projected annual savings of $2,500 per family by the end of his first term in office – only to close out his first four years with a $2,400 increase  in insurance costs.

In other words, his campaign promise was about as accurate the oft-repeated “if you like your health care plan, you can keep it” promise.

***