Health Insurance Costs Rise 9 Percent
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As families struggle to pay the bills in the slow recovery, the costs of health insurance are going up, research shows. Average annual premiums on employer-provided health insurance rose 9 percent in 2011 to $15,073, according to a report from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
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The rising insurance prices outpace wages, which grew 2.1 percent, and inflation, which grew 3.2 percent. This adds a burden to working families that are struggling through the current economic situation.
Young adults, who have been struggling disproportionately in the slow economic recovery, benefited from the provision in President Barack Obama’s health care act that allows them to stay on their parent’s health insurance plans until they turn 26. About 2.3 million young adults jumped onto their parents’ plans.
The report also shows that many employers are not taking advantage of the temporary tax credit the Affordable Care Act offers small employers who provide their employees with health insurance.
Sixty-five percent of small firms did not attempt to determine their eligibility for the tax credit, while only 29 percent did.
Eligible firms must have fewer than 25 full-time workers and average wages of less than $50,000.
The data on rising costs is compounded by the fact that the high levels of unemployment have left many families unable to get employer-sponsored health insurance at all.
Recent numbers from the Census Bureau show that the number of people without health insurance in 2010 stood at 49.9 million – about 16.3 percent – while media incomes fells 2.3 percent to $49,445. The poverty rate climbed to 15.1 percent in 2010, up from 14.3 percent in 2009.
