(MintPress)– A 2011 study from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows the average annual health care premium for family coverage through an employer to be $15,000. Ten years prior, it was less than half that, at $7,000.
While health care costs in America are skyrocketing, median incomes have been on the decline. The median income in a United States household in 2010 was $49,445. A decade prior, that figure was $41,990. When adjusting for inflation and 2010 dollars, that would have been relative to making $53,164 during that time.
Rising medical costs are hitting at a time when factors are stacking against the U.S. population. The unemployment rate sits at 8.3 percent while 18.7 percent struggle with underemployment, obstacles that can get in the way of accessing quality health care. Other obstacles such as overall health, preexisting conditions and a for-profit health care system have divided the country on how to deal with health care in the United States.
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Preexisting conditions
Medical insurance companies have taken note of the high costs that are associated with some Americans. In response, many insurance companies have declined to cover those with preexisting conditions. Insurance companies have argued that their insurance is meant to cover future complications and is not meant to pay for medical issues that have already been accrued.
In 2010, it was reported that 18 states had refused to create a program that would provide insurance coverage for people whose preexisting conditions left them uninsured. Many of the states said the cost would be too great to take on. With funding thin, governments on the state and federal levels face difficult choices when it comes to health care costs: reduce benefits, raise premiums or limit the number of people who can enroll.
To counter this dilemma, President Barack Obama has passed a complete overhaul of the U.S. health care system that contains a provision requiring insurance companies to cover people who apply that have preexisting conditions. The bill would require insurers to “cover pre-existing conditions so all Americans, regardless of their health status or history, can get comprehensive benefits at fair and stable premiums.”
While this promise has been kept by Obama, his full overhaul plan remains in flux should he lose out on a second presidential term. Republicans have chastised the overhaul as “Obamacare,” saying health care is best left to a free market.
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Unhealthy population
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), about one-third of U.S. adults are obese. Furthermore, around 17 percent of children and adolescents in the U.S. are (redundant) overweight. A major implication of obesity in the U.S. is the link to diabetes. 2011 data show 8.3 percent of the U.S. population has diabetes and that 1.9 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 or older in 2010.
The influx of diabetes has cost the U.S. billions of dollars over the years. The latest economic analysis from the American Diabetes Association shows that in 2007 diabetes cost the U.S. $174 billion – $116 billion in excess medical expenditures and $58 billion in “reduced national productivity.”
The increase in health care demand has prompted the U.S. to allot more funding for health care. National health expenditures (NHE), according to 2009 data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, accounted for 17.6 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product and is expected to account for 19.3 percent by 2019.
As of 2008, per capita spending on health care showed the U.S. to be drastically higher than other developed nations. The U.S. spent an average of $7,538 while the next nearest country, Norway, spent slightly over $5,000.
Moreover, the CIA has ranked the U.S. as 50th in the world in life expectancy, at 78.37 years. Angola was last at 38.76 years while Monaco was easily in first place at 89.73 years. A Forbes report from 2008 discovered European countries such as Iceland, Sweden and Finland to be the healthiest overall.
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Around the world
Of the healthiest European cities citied above, all three operate around a decentralized, government-run health care system that provides health care to all of its citizens.
In Sweden, “responsibility for health and medical care is shared by the central government, county councils and municipalities.” In the life expectancy rankings, Sweden was listed at 16th.
Iceland makes use of a similar system as Sweden, and is nearly identical in life expectancy, coming in at 18th. Every citizen is entitled to health care and the program is controlled and funded by the central government.
Finland’s health care system is decentralized, publically funded and contains a very small private health care sector. Municipalities are responsible for providing health care and everyone residing in Finland is eligible. Finland currently ranks 39th in life expectancy polls.
Source: MintPress