Health Care Costs
The Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit foundation that supports health care reform, released a report today finding that many insured people with three or more chronic conditions are shelling out more than they can afford in premiums and other health care costs. From the abstract:
Using data from the 2001–2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, this study shows that nearly 40 percent of nonelderly adults with three or more chronic conditions had out-of-pocket expenses and premiums exceeding 5 percent of income for two consecutive years, compared with 20 percent of people who had a single chronic condition and 14 percent who had no chronic conditions. Prescription drug spending accounts for over half of the out-of-pocket spending by individuals who have multiple chronic conditions and who have had persistently high financial burdens that last two years or more.
Another report issued last week by the Fund finds that including a public insurance option in a health insurance exchange would ring $265 billion in administrative cost savings over 10 years.