Health Care Costs, Spending Rising Faster than Wages

June 22, 2005 -- For the eighth year in a row, medical costs rose faster than the growth of wages, according to a recently published report in the Journal of Health Affairs. Additionally, privately insured Americans spent over 8 percent more on health care in 2004 than the previous year. That increase is roughly the same spending hike that occurred between 2002 and 2003.

According to the most recent Census Bureau data, about 45 million people -- nearly 15 percent of the population -- were uninsured in 2003. Paul Ginsberg, president of the Center for Studying Health System Change, said that the figure would be higher were it not for expansion in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, both of which are government-sponsored.

A recent Institute of Medicine report examines the substantial medical, economic, and social consequences of America’s growing uninsured population. Calling on Congress and the president to strive for universal health coverage by 2010, Insuring America’s Health: Principles and Recommendations offers five guiding principles by which all proposals for extending coverage should be judged. The report is the last in a six-part series examining the effects of uninsurance on individuals, families, and communities.

• Consequences of Uninsurance Web site
• Searchable collection of reports on uninsurance

• Journal of Health Affairs Report
• CSHSC release