Press Clips

Health-care reform offers benefits to Ohioans - Dayton Daily News (Jan. 6, 2010)

Will bills contain health care costs? -  CantonRep.com (Nov. 7, 2009)

Anthem: Health reform could triple rates - Cincinnati.com (Oct. 26, 2009)

Hannah, May 29, 2009

Ohio Families Fall Victim of 'Hidden Health Tax' For Health Care Coverage

A report released Thursday by the national consumer health organization Families USA said that Ohioans paid an average of $1,017 for the uncompensated health care costs of the state's uninsured as part of their annual family health carepremiums - a cost Families USA dubbed a "hidden health tax."

More specifically, Families USA said the hidden health tax is the undisclosed insurance premium surcharge, paid by America's businesses and insured families, when they purchase health insurance that subsidizes the uncompensated health care costs of those without health insurance.

"This hidden health tax hurts businesses and families," said Kathleen Gmeiner, director of Ohio Consumers for Health Coverage. "The hidden health tax is part of a system of health care delivery that is inefficient and does not provide foressential preventive care for uninsured families. All Ohio families - the insured and the uninsured - need genuine health care reform that will eliminate this hidden tax."

Families USA contracted with Milliman, Inc., a nationally known actuarial consulting firm, to array and analyze the data for the report.

According to the Families USA report, "uninsured people are less likely to get the care they need when they need it, and they are more likely to delay seeking care as long as possible." When they do receive care, it is paid for in several ways:

- More than one-third (37 percent) of that care is paid by the uninsured themselves out of their own pockets.

- Third-party sources, such as government programs and charities, paid for another 26 percent of that care.

- The remaining amount -- approximately $42.7 billion in 2008 -- is considered uncompensated care; those costs are shifted onto the health care bills of insured people, ultimately resulting in the hidden health tax through higher premiums.

This hidden health tax is responsible for an increasing share of family and individual premiums in Ohio. A new estimate from Families USA, also released Thursday, finds that Ohio's 2008 average employer-based health insurance premiums were $12,120 for families and $4,500 for individuals.

Gmeiner noted that an earlier report from Families USA, released in 2005, pegged the hidden health tax at an average of $922 per insured family and $341 per insured single person. This hidden health tax for families and individuals has grown to $1,017 and $368, respectively, in 2008, and "is likely to jump higher in 2009 as a result of the declining economy.

"Job losses in Ohio and across the nation can be expected to drive up the hidden health tax, as more people lose health coverage but still need medical treatment," Gmeiner said. "We call on our state and federal lawmakers to fix the health care system now. Ohioans cannot wait any longer for relief from skyrocketing health care costs and unfair insurance rules."

The data for the report were based on the federal Medical Expenditures Panel Survey as well as other federal and private data sources. A full copy of the report and a description of the methodology used to array the numbers in the report canbe found online at www.familiesusa.org.

 

 

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Don't fear health reform
Saturday,  May 16, 2009 3:06 AM

The April 28 Dispatch editorial "Time to choose" overstated the sacrifices facing consumers in health-care reform. This position could lead people comfortable with their current health coverage to fear change and oppose health-care reform. The assertion that providing health care for all Americans will mean having to give up affordability…(click here to read full editorial)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Insurers Talk Health  Care, Columbus Dispatch, July 23, 2008