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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (55273)	9/10/2004 1:04:13 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Respond to of 89467

45 million are without healthcare coverage. Here's another article from today's SF Chronicle: Health care costs bruising economy SPENDING SLOWS: Workers cut back to pay medical tab Tom Abate, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, September 10, 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Economists have warned for months that rising energy prices could be dragging down the economy by taking money out of the pockets of consumers. Now, there are signs that steeply rising health care costs could be an even bigger factor than gasoline in slowing the American consumer spending machine that drives the economy. As employers have tried to lighten their own health care loads by asking workers to pay more in premiums and co-payments, Labor Department data show that health care costs are taking a bigger slice of household budgets. "It is like a tax,'' said Wells Fargo economist Sung Won Sohn. "You have less discretionary income to spend on other things, whether it is bicycles or shoes or a vacation.'' Several economic indicators have shown that consumer spending has cooled recently. Sales volume at chain stores, a widely watched measure, has been increasing recently at an annual pace just a little over 2 percent, significantly below the rate of well over 3 percent posted in the last few years. Rising health costs could be an important factor, some experts are beginning to conclude. "Consumers are now spending more on health care than ever before,'' said Rakesh Shankar, health care specialist with the Pennsylvania consultancy firm Economy.com. "It's difficult to isolate the impact of health care costs, but what's unmistakable is that it's taking away from (discretionary) spending. The only question is how much.'' Every year, the Labor Department analyzes how consumers spend their money, a study called the consumer expenditures survey. It showed that in 2002, the most recent year for which data are available, the average household spent $2, 350 a year, or 4.8 percent of its income, on health care. In 1999, the average household health expenditure was $1,959, or 4.5 percent of income. The Labor data show that in 2002, the average household spent nearly twice as much for health care as it did for gas. What's more, health care spending has risen so rapidly that it passed federal taxes as a percentage of average household income in 2002. sfgate.com

To: stockman_scott who wrote (55273)	9/10/2004 1:07:10 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Respond to of 89467

Another article about the collapsing health care from today's Chronicle. Bush's mindless answer to this dilemma doesn't address the problem: Health care costs bruising economy PREMIUMS RISE: Firms, employees face tough choices Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, September 10, 2004 sfgate.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Premiums for job-based health insurance jumped 11.2 percent on average this year across the nation, according to a survey released Thursday, the latest evidence of a painful rise in medical costs that is placing an increasingly heavy burden on employers and consumers. The 2004 increase was less than last year's 13.9 percent leap, but it was the fourth consecutive annual double-digit rate hike, according to the annual employer health-benefits survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Education Trust. Although premium increases moderated, employer payments for health insurance still rose five times faster than the rate of inflation and workers' earnings. The cumulative effect of several years of rising costs has been severe, and a growing number of businesses have dropped health coverage for their workers completely, the study noted. "Health insurance is becoming unaffordable, especially for small employers," Drew Altman, Kaiser Family Foundation president, told the Associated Press. "We should expect the ranks of uninsured to grow as small employers can't afford health insurance." Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, speaking at a forum on health care in Iowa, noted his proposal to subsidize employer health insurance costs and blamed President Bush for not taking action to curb rising premiums. "It's wrong to allow skyrocketing health care costs to choke off new jobs, eat up family incomes and leave millions uninsured," he said. Bush has promised to make health coverage more affordable through a series of measures, including expanding tax-free savings accounts to pay insurance costs. The Kaiser study underscores "the importance of acting on President Bush's health care agenda," said Bill Pierce, spokesman for the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.