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HEALTH CARE COSTS RISING FOR INSURED

By Erin France/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 11:26 PM CDT

Rising health care costs are a concern for all Arkansans, including those who have insurance, a Families USA report said.

The report, released recently by the consumer health organization, said “709,000 people under age 65 are in families that will spend more than 10 percent of their pre-tax family income on health care in 2009, and 82.5 percent of those Arkansas families have insurance.” The number is consistent with the national average in the report. That’s about 60 percent more residents this year than 2009, according to Families USA.

The number represents a trend in rising health care costs for the insured, Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said in a press release.

“More and more families with insurance are affected by rising health care costs, and, for many, the burden of these costs is becoming too great to bear,” he stated.

Fourth District Congressman Mike Ross, D-Prescott, participated in a conference call Wednesday sponsored by Families USA.

In the press release, Ross said 40 percent of a tax dollar funds Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security and that percentage could rise without intervention.

“Arkansas' working families are struggling because health insurance premiums are rising six to eight times faster than wages,” Ross said. “We must make health care affordable, accessible and adequate for every working American, especially those in rural areas. Then, and only then, can we get the skyrocketing costs of health care under control and stabilize our national economy.”

Ben Trevino, an employee benefits specialist with First Arkansas Insurance, said he’s seen the trend the Families USA organization reports.

“We’ve seen it for years,” he said.

Small businesses with 25 to 50 employees are especially feeling the pinch of increasing insurance health care costs, Trevino said.

“We’re having to get creative with it,” he said. “It’s making our clients more consumer driven.”

Trevino said he remembered former years where he was able to cut health care costs for his clients. Now, he said he is happy when he can lower the expected increase.

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