Escalating Cost of Health Premiums

Health insurance premiums in the United States have risen dramatically at a rate which far exceeds wage increases. The average amount employees shell out for family health care coverage rose thirty percent from 2001 to 2005. In the same time range, incomes only increased by three percent according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

RWJF spokesman Michael Berman stated, "Nationally, insurance premium costs are going up ten times faster than people's incomes, and in some regions, the gap is even greater. So what we've tried to do with this report is highlight for the nation's leaders what families already know; that it's getting harder and harder to afford health insurance in America."

With, currently 47 million people uninsured in the United States, nine million whom are children, it is evident that the health care system is in need of reform. The State Health Access Data Assistance Center holds an annual Cover the Uninsured Week in an effort to raise awareness regarding health care issues.

The National Coalition on Healthcare reports that in 2007 health costs increased by 6.9%, double the rate of inflation. As of now, healthcare amounts for 16% of the Gross Domestic Product, but figures project it to be as much as 20% by 2016 according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

There is an overwhelming consensus which urgent reform is needed since both employers and employees are both being hurt by the current system. For more information regarding health care premiums, please consult http://www.texashealthinsuranceoptions.com