According to a national advocacy group, health care premiums have risen five times faster than earnings in California since 2000.
From 2000 to 2007, California’s annual family health premiums rose from $6,227 to $12,194, an increase of 95.8 percent, while median earnings rose from $25,740 to $30,702, an increase of only 19.3 percent. The data comes from a study by Families USA and is echoed by a Kaiser Family Foundation survey.
“Skyrocketing health care costs were a problem in California before the current economic downturn, and slow wage growth or job losses now only make matters worse,” said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. (Sacramento Bee, Oct. 26)
The trend is a national phenomenon not unique to California. On average, health care premiums rose 78 percent nationally during the same period. Crippled by auto industry troubles, Michigan saw premiums rise 17 times faster than earnings—the highest premiums-to-earnings ratio in the country. Nevada’s ratio was roughly 2.5 to one.
