New Report on Rising Health Insurance Premiums in Texas
The increasingly unaffordable cost of health care is more than an abstract policy issue for many American families. It is a main reason why health insurance reform is so urgent.
Just how untenable is the status quo for working Texans?
Families USA released a new report, Costly Coverage: Premiums Outpace Paychecks in Texas, which shows how rapidly premiums have outpaced earnings. Over a 10-year period family health insurance premiums for Texas rose 4.6 times faster than median earnings. Key findings from the report include:
• Health insurance premiums for Texas’s working families grew quickly over the last 10 years, increasing by 91.6 percent from 2000 to 2009.
• For family health coverage in Texas, the average annual premium (employer and worker share of premiums combined) rose from $6,638 to $12, 721, an increase of $6,083.
• For family health coverage in the state, the employer’s portion of annual premiums rose from $4,879 to $8,599 (a difference of $3,720), while the worker’s portion rose from $1,759 to $4,122 (a difference of $2,363).
• For individual health coverage in Texas, the average annual premium (employer and worker share of premiums combined) rose from $2,627 to $4,470, an increase of $1,843.
• For individual health coverage in the state, the employer’s portion of annual premiums rose from $2,220 to $3,571 (a difference of $1,352), while the worker’s portion rose from $407 to $898 (a difference of $491).
