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For many families, insurance a luxury item
By
Kris Hundley, Times Staff Writer
In print: Tuesday, April 29, 2008
One of every four Floridians younger than 65 has no health insurance, and a report released this week by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation might suggest the reason why.
Though wages in Florida remained stagnant from 2001 to 2005, the average cost of family health insurance premiums rose 29 percent. Nationwide, health insurance premiums were up 30 percent over the five-year period, while income rose 3 percent. There are 47-million Americans who are uninsured.
"This study makes plain what every working parent knows — that providing insurance coverage takes a bigger bite from the family budget every year," said Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president of the nonprofit foundation, based in Princeton, N.J.
Florida bucked a national trend according to one metric in the analysis of wage and premium data, conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota. The number of private-sector employers in the state who offered health insurance benefits to their employees actually increased by about 13,900 establishments from 2001 to 2005. Nationwide, the ranks of employers offering health coverage dropped by 30,000 during the same period.
But the continued growth in the number of uninsured in Florida suggests that many people turned down employer-sponsored coverage. Even with the boss kicking in about two-thirds of the premium, which was nearly $11,000 a year in 2005, workers treading water with their pay took a pass.
Kris Hundley can be reached at hundley@sptimes.com or
(727) 892-2996.
In Florida, average cost of family health insurance premiums rose 29 percent from 2001 to 2005
2001: $8,409
2005: $10,852
During the same period, median earned income in Florida was virtually unchanged.
2001: $39,148
2005: $39,849
Florida employees' share of health insurance premiums
2001: 27.9 percent
2005: 32.2 percent
Percent of Floridians under 65 without health insurance
2001: 20.5
2005: 24.4
Source: University of Minnesota, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
[Last modified: Apr 30, 2008 03:09 PM]
Comments on this article
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by JT
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Apr 30, 2008 11:59 AM
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Nice try to make it a tear jerker issue when in fact it is not and has not been a priority for many to PAY for health ins. Families can get good ins from Blue Cross for half what you say. Don't wait until you are sick though, buy health ins at 1
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by Carol
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Apr 30, 2008 11:17 AM
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When our health insurance premiums went over $400/mo. I had no choice but to cancel. We are under 50, healthly, and have had no claims EVER other than annual checkups. We are also self employed so we find our own coverage and pay the whole premium.
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by Ray
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Apr 30, 2008 11:16 AM
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This shows what happens when Republicans rule.
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by Dennis
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Apr 29, 2008 4:55 PM
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For example, my girlfriend's company just switched over to a plan where she has to pay more than she used to, and gets almost no coverage. No copays (she pays full price on EVERYTHING until the deductible is met) and the deductible is
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by Dennis
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Apr 29, 2008 4:54 PM
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The fact that the # of private co's in FL offering health insurance to employees increased doesn't account for the fact that many of the existing ones have decreased the coverage they provide.
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by Paula
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Apr 29, 2008 2:19 PM
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"Even with the boss kicking in about two-thirds of the premium, which was nearly $11,000 a year in 2005, workers treading water with their pay took a pass."
Wonder how many instead spent the money of cable TV, and/or cell phone ring
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