7am News, Sports and Obits
Latest WGIL news
Click to play or
Right click and "Save Target As" to download
Click for Galesburg, Illinois Forecast
Home - Cancellations - Community Events - Contact Us - Mornings - News - Obituaries - Pictures - Programs - Special Events Audio - Sports - Weather
Study: Health Care Costs More, Worth Less
Study results released Thursday show that you're probably paying more for your health care plan, and getting less coverage, while your pay is lagging behind.

The Campaign for Better Health Care studied government numbers, and found that over the last eight years, family health care premiums went up 5 1/2 times faster that people's wages.

Specifically, key findings in the report are:

* For family health coverage provided through the workplace in Illinois, annual health insurance premiums in the 2000-2007 period rose from $7,220 to $12,500—an increase of $5,280, or 73.1 percent.

* Between 2000 and 2007, the median earnings of Illinois' workers increased from $26,806 to $30,322 -- an increase of $3,516, or 13.1 percent.

* The number of non-elderly uninsured people in Illinois is approximately 1,713,000, which is 15.2 percent of the non-elderly population.

Campaign executive director Jim Duffett says that's too much for companies that offer health care plans, and families that pay for them, to bear, leading to fewer employer plans and fewer families who can afford them. "It's also adding another 30,000-40,000 Illinois families to the rolls of being the uninsured, and that number is going to increase dramatically because of the economy," he said.

Duffett believes the health care access problem will get better once the country elects a new president and Illinois has some new state lawmakers. The group supports expanded private and public sector health care plans, even universal health care.

(Source: Illinois Radio Network)
10 24 08 by Newsroom
News management powered by Xpression News

Click here for the WGIL News Archive

Click here for national news

The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.