Health Insurance Directory
In 2005, total U.S. health expenditures rose 6.9 percent. Total spending was $2 TRILLION in 2005, or $6,700 per person. Total health care spending represented 16 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). U.S. health care spending is expected to increase at similar levels for the next decade reaching $4 TRILLION in 2015, or 20 percent of GDP (2). In 2006, employer health insurance premiums increased by 7.7 percent – two times the rate of inflation. The annual premium for an employer health plan covering a family of four averaged nearly $11,500. The annual premium for single coverage averaged over $4,200.
Experts agree that our health care system is riddled with inefficiencies, excessive administrative expenses, inflated prices, poor management, and inappropriate care, waste and fraud. These problems significantly increase the cost of medical care and health insurance for employers and workers and affect the security of families.
About 85% of Americans, roughly 250 million people, have some form of health insurance. About 60% of this number have employment-based coverage through an employer or a union, and about 10% are covered by direct-purchase plans through private companies. The remainder receive coverage through various public health insurance programs offered by government agencies. Government health insurance includes plans funded by governments as the federal, state, or local level. The major categories of government health insurance are medicare, medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), military health care, state plans, and the Indian Health Service. About 42 million Americans have no insurance coverage. Part of this population might include young and healthy individuals with low risk of serious illness who don't believe that health insurance would be cost-effective.
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