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Halth Insuanc Cvag in N YkKps Shinking as Pmiums,Family Csts Cntinu Climbing
JULY 2009
www.HealthCareforAmericaNow.org
New YorKHeALTH CAre For AMerICA Now
AcknowledgementsHealth Care or America Now is grateul to the ollowing people or their invaluable help inproducing this report: Justin Berrier, Alex Lawson, Tomas M. Hunt, Seth Extein, Dan Redding,Alex Turston, Jonathan Flack, Monica Sanchez, Julie Chinitz, Diane Archer, Margarida Jorge, oby Chaudhuri, Jennier Ettinger, Rachel Perrone, and the Institute or America’s Future.
New YorKHeALTH CAre For AMerICA Now
M
edical care has become too expensive in New York, leaving 2.6 million state residents unin-
sured and exposed to the catastrophic costs
o accidents and illnesses.
1
Te economic downturn thatbegan 19 months ago has vaporized 7 million jobs acrossthe U.S. and driven the New York unemployment rate to
8.7 percent rom 4.6 percent.
2
More amilies are nd-ing themselves without health benets just as the costo buying coverage on the open market has climbed torecord levels.
3
While the employed take comort in holding on to their
jobs, thousands o workers at small businesses in New York and millions more nationwide remain uninsured
because the price o comprehensive health insurance has
soared out o reach. And across the nation more than
hal o Americans whose jobs and benets are intact
nonetheless live in ear o becoming sudden casualties o
the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
4
Health insurance premiums have risen so high that
experts orecast 52 million Americans will be without
coverage next year.
5
Let alone to purchase coverage
directly rom private health insurance companies, ami-
lies oten have no choice but to remain uninsured or buy
policies with meager benets.
N Yk Data Pints
Health insurance premiums or New York working
amilies have skyrocketed, increasing 97 percent rom
2000 to 2007.
6
For amily health coverage in New York during
this period, the average annual combined premium
or employers and employees rose rom $7,090 to
$12,812.
7
Te ull cost o employer-sponsored insurance now equals 25 percent o median amily income in New •••
York. Without meaningul health reorm, that number
will grow to 47 percent in 2016.
8
Te ull cost o employer-sponsored health insurance
in New York is projected to grow at an annual rate o 7.4 percent, compared to a 0.8 percent growth rateor income.
9
About 1.3 million working non-elderly adults do not
have health insurance in New York. Tat comprises64 percent o the total non-elderly uninsured popu-lation.
10
In New York 9 percent o working adults reported
spending 20 percent or more o their income on out-o-pocket health care expenses in 2004, a 45 percentincrease rom three years earlier.
11
For amily health coverage in New York rom 2000
to 2007, the average employer’s portion o annual
premiums rose 79 percent, while the average worker’s
share increased 88 percent.
12
From 2000 to 2007, the median earnings o New
York workers increased 11 percent, rom $28,153 to
$31,263. During that time health insurance premiums
or New York working amilies rose 7.3 times asterthan median earnings.
13
In New York 2,590,364 people were uninsured in
2007.
14
Te Bureau o Labor Statistics estimates that 7.7
percent o New York’s labor orce was unemployed
in April 2009.
15
A recent report estimated that 62 percent o bank-
ruptcies were directly related to medical bills; in New
York there were 45,237 non-business bankruptcies
in 2008.
16,17
Average statewide insurance prices are direct pay mar-
ket is: $12,000 or single people, $24,000 or amily coverage.
18
•••••••••
Halth Insuanc Cvag in N YkKps Shinking As Pmiums,Family Csts Cntinu Climbing
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