If health insurance costs are left unchecked, the number of uninsured Americans will increase by 10% in every state in the country and by 30% in more than half the states, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Ten more years of doing nothing paints a bleak picture,†said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a conference call Monday.
The number of uninsured Americans will increase by 10% in every state in the country and by 30% in more than half the states, according to “Health Insurance Reform: The Case for Change,†a state-by-state study released by HHS.
The amount of uncompensated care will more than double in 45 states, businesses in 27 states will see their premiums more than double, and fewer people will have coverage through an employer, states the report. Employer- based health costs will triple from around $10,000 per year to almost $30,000 per year by 2019, said Sebelius, referring to a study by the Business Roundtable.
In some states, healthcare reform is expected to reduce premiums for state employees. For example, Michigan, which leads the nation in unemployment at 15.1%, has 1.3 million uninsured residents. If they get insured through the national health insurance exchange, the amount of uncompensated care costs that’s shifted to the premiums of state employees will decrease, according to the report.
President Barack Obama is committed to enacting health insurance reform. Even though reform legislation has passed in the House, and U.S. Senate leaders voted to start debate on a healthcare reform bill Saturday, a bill may not reach Obama’s desk by the end of the year.
The Senate bill provides subsidies for businesses, increases competition between insurers and repeals practices that raise premiums for small businesses. It faces many challenges since Republicans believe that it is “the worst bill ever†and they say it will impose a half trillion dollars in higher taxes on small businesses and individuals.
Not everyone agrees. “Health reform can provide a stable source of affordable coverage for small businesses,†says Elise Gould, director of health policy research at the Economic Policy Institute. “Small businesses have the hardest time providing insurance to their workers because they are in such a small market and there is not much competition so they don’t have much bargaining power with insurance companies.â€
Gould also says that the new bill will reverse a trend of declining coverage for all Americans. Although employer sponsored health insurance coverage for the under 65 population declined for males and females alike and across race and ethnic classifications, racial and ethnic disparities in coverage persisted from 2000 to 2008, she explains.
“Often [African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans] are over represented in jobs where health insurance isn’t offered or the take up rate is low because of the costs. Doing nothing will just continue to increase what is already a very dramatic gap in who has insurance coverage and who doesn’t; who has access to preventative services and who doesn’t,†says Sebelius. “That cost differential is likely to increase dramatically.â€