Rising out-of-pocket expenses and stagnant incomes increased the financial burden of health care for more Americans between 2001 and 2004, especially for the privately insured, according to a national study supported in part by the Commonwealth Fund and published in the January/February issue of Health Affairs. The study was conducted by researchers at the Center for Studying Health System Change and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
The researchers found that after accounting for general inflation, total average out-of-pocket spending on health care increased by $373 to $2,656 a person in 2004--about a 16 percent increase from 2001. In contrast, average family incomes during the same period were largely unchanged after accounting for inflation.
The increase in financial burden was driven entirely by people with private insurance, most of whom had employer-sponsored coverage: 17 percent, or 29 million people, with employer-sponsored insurance faced high burdens in 2004, up from 14.7 percent in 2001, the study found. For people with employer coverage, out-of-pocket spending for premiums and services rose $553 to $3,211, a 21 percent increase between 2001 and 2004 after accounting for inflation. Read the article.
