Health care costs have DOUBLED over the past ten years [View all]

[eridani]

All while the average person's income is shrinking.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/05/07/147985/health-care-increasingly-out-of.html#storylink=cpy

Tens of millions of adults under age 65 – both those with insurance and those without – saw their access to health care worsen dramatically over the past decade, according to a study abstract released Monday.

The findings suggest that more privately insured Americans are delaying treatment because of rising out-of-pocket costs, while safety-net programs for the poor and uninsured are failing to keep up with demand for care, say Urban Institute researchers who wrote the report.

Overall, the study published in the journal Health Affairs found that one in five American adults under 65 had an “unmet medical need” because of costs in 2010, compared with one in eight in 2000. They also had a harder time accessing dental care, according to the analysis based on data from annual federal surveys of adults.

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RAND’s Kellermann noted that even as the nation’s total health care bill doubled in the past decade to $2.6 trillion, many Americans had difficulty getting treated.
“We’re paying more and more and getting less and less,” he said.


Asked if there was any good news in her report, Kenney said that in contrast to adults, millions more children gained access to care in the past decade, likely because of the availability of public coverage for children through Medicaid and CHIP. The study found the percent of children who had been to a doctor in the past year rose to 92 percent in 2010, from 89 percent in 2000.