By using this website you allow us to place cookies on your computer. Please read our Privacy Policy for more details.
Publication Date: October 2008
Publisher: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
Author(s):
Research Area: Health
Type: Brief
Coverage: United States
Abstract:
The high and rapidly rising cost of health care affects the financial security of families and the economic health of the nation. Thirty percent of respondents in a recent Kaiser Poll reported that they had experienced a serious problem paying for health care and health insurance as a result of recent changes in the economy, and a recent study found that 10% of people with problems paying medical bills were denied care because of medical bills. In 2004, 18% of the nonelderly population had out-of-pocket health costs that exceeded 10% of their disposable income.
At a national level, health care accounts for a large and growing slice of the overall U.S. economic pie. The growth in health expenditures routinely outpaces growth in income, making health insurance less affordable for all Americans and making it more costly to extend coverage to the over 45 million Americans who are uninsured. These rising health costs also make public health programs more difficult to sustain, straining federal and state budgets.
Finding a way to address high costs and cost growth without unreasonably reducing access to new and needed services is a significant challenge. How the candidates for the upcoming election propose to address the challenges posed by the increasing costs of health care is a critical component of the current political debates.