Health care premiums for Ohio families outpace earnings – MedCity Morning Read, Sept. 18, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – From 2000 to 2009, family health care premiums in Ohio rose about seven times faster than workers’ earnings, according to a report (pdf) released Thursday by Families USA, a nonprofit organization that advocates for affordable health care.

The report notes that the average annual health insurance premium for family coverage rose from $6,596 to $12,145 – an increase of 84.1 percent. Meanwhile, median earnings rose from $25,017 to $27,936 – an increase of just 11.7 percent.

“Rising health care costs threaten the financial well-being of families in Ohio and across the nation,” Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said in a statement. “If health care reform does not happen soon, more and more families will be priced out of the health coverage they used to take for granted.”

Nationally, family health care premiums rose 93 percent during the same time period, while workers’ median earnings rose only 19 percent, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

The report is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Families USA documents changes in workers’ earnings and insurance premiums on a state-specific basis.

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