A healthcare advocacy group says health insurance premiums paid by U.S. workers rose nearly three times faster than average earnings in the past four years.
Families USA, which supports Democrat John Kerry's presidential campaign, hired the Lewin Group to analyze federal data on healthcare costs and contrast that with earnings changes, USA Today reported Tuesday.
The group found premium costs for private health insurance coverage grew 35.9 premium from 2000 to 2004, while average individual earnings grew 12.4 percent.
As medical premiums consume a growing share of earnings, more U.S. residents spend a major portion of their annual incomes on health care. During the same four-year period, the number of U.S. residents whose healthcare costs exceed 1/4 of their earnings rose to 14.3 million from 11.6 million.
Families USA's study was conducted to pose and answer a version of President Reagan's memorable 1980 campaign question: Are you better off now than four years ago?
"These grim findings explain why health care costs and coverage have become a top-priority concern for America's families over the past four years," the Families USA report said.
© Copyright 2004 by United Press International
