Health care premiums rose five times faster than earnings in California since 2000 – another sign of the spiraling cost of medical insurance as families pay for more for less health coverage, according to a national advocacy group.
In the past seven years, family health premiums rose by 95.8 percent, while median earnings rose by 19.3 percent, according to a study released Wednesday by Families USA, a national nonpartisan group based in Washington, D.C.
In California from 2000 to 2007, annual premiums rose from $6,227 to $12,194. During that same period, the median pay went from $25,740 to $30,702.
"Skyrocketing health care costs were a problem in California before the current economic downturn, and slow wage growth or job losses now only make matters worse," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.
"As health care becomes less and less affordable, Californians face difficult choices in trying to provide health coverage for themselves and their families," Pollack said. "A bad situation is clearly growing worse."
Michigan, hobbled by troubles in the auto industry, had the nation's worst premiums-to-earnings ratio – with premiums rising 17 times faster than earnings, according to the study. Nevada's ratio was about 2.5 to 1. California was somewhere in the middle, Pollack said.
Robert Zirkelbach of America's Health Insurance Plans, the national association for 1,300 health insurers, said rising premiums "track directly with the underlying cost of providing health care."
On average nationally, health premiums rose 78 percent, lower than California's rate, during the seven-year period. However, earnings in California outpaced the rest of the country, which saw wages rise by 14.5 percent.
About 6.6 million are medically uninsured in California. The Families USA study echoes a Kaiser Family Foundation survey released last month that showed the trend nationally.
According to the Kaiser study, the average yearly U.S. worker's contribution for employees without dependents is $721, about double from a decade ago. The average yearly worker contribution for employees with family coverage is $3,354.
" What is clear is that health care is becoming less and less affordable," said Anthony Wright, executive director of Oakland-based Health Access California. "People recognize that they are being asked to pay in the front end and the back end," he said, referring to the premiums and the out-of-pocket expenses such as deductibles and co-payments.
"The system is broken and needs to be fixed," said Wright, who called for greater oversight of the insurance industry.
Call The Bee's Bobby Caina Calvan, (916) 321-1067.
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