Employers Pay More For Health Insurance, Number Of Uninsured Rises
PBS NewsHour: "The price businesses pay for their workers' health insurance has ballooned more than 41 percent over the past six years, according to a new study by the Commonwealth Fund. At the same time, many workers are getting less for the money -- per-person deductibles have risen 71 percent over those same years, according to the report. The squeeze is particularly acute in the south and southwest, according to the report, where premiums are slightly below the national average -- but average wages are even further below. So health insurance in those states makes up a bigger percentage of workers' average total compensation" (Winerman, 12/6).
ModernHealthcare.com: "The number of uninsured adults nationwide rose by 5.6 million between 2007 and 2009, with the largest percentage of newly uninsured living in the Midwest, according to a new report" published online by Health Affairs. "The number of American adults under age 65 with employment-based insurance fell from 164.2 million to 156.2 million over those two years during the height of the recession, mostly because of job loss and movement from full-time to part-time work" (Vesely, 12/6).
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