While earnings rose slightly in North Carolina over the past eight years, health care premiums raced ahead, according to a report released Wednesday by a consumer health organization based in Washington, D.C.
Families USA reported that health care premiums rose 5.3 percent faster than earnings between 2000 and 2007.
Annual health insurance premiums for family coverage increased 74.7 percent from $6,649 to $11,618, according to the report. During the same period of time, median earnings in North Carolina rose from $23,080 to $26,316, just 14 percent.
“Skyrocketing health care costs were a problem in North Carolina before the current economic downturn, and slow wage growth or job losses only make matters worse,” Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said.
High insurance premiums occurred at the same time that
employers were frequently offering “thinner coverage,” coverage that offers less benefits or coverage that comes with higher deductibles and co-payments, the report states.
More and more North Carolina families are falling into the uninsured and underinsured categories as costs continue to rise. The report also found that more than half of bankruptcies filed in North Carolina are filed at least in part due to medical costs.
Nearly 20 percent of the elderly population, or about 1.5 million people, are uninsured.
“If earnings continue to lag behind fast-rising health care costs, North Carolinians will face diminishing economic and health security,” Pollack said.
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