People With Insurance Pay for Those Without, Study Shows

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Excerpted from "People With Insurance Pay for Those Without, Study Shows", with emphasis added.

The average premium for family health coverage in 2005 is $922 higher to help cover the costs of care for the uninsured, according to a study released Wednesday. Caring for those without coverage also added $341 to the average individual health insurance policy.

Officials of the consumer group Families USA said their study is the first to attempt to quantify how much the insured pay for the uninsured.

Using data compiled by Emory University Health economist Ken Thorpe, the study calculated that the uninsured themselves pay for about a third of their care from their own pockets, and government programs pay another 22%. The rest is passed along to health care providers, who in turn pass it on, to the degree they can, to insurance companies.

"The large and increasing number of uninsured Americans is no longer simply an altruistic concern on behalf of those without health coverage," said Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack. "These costs clearly affect everyone."

It is a myth that those without health insurance do not get health care, said Kansas Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. "But they are getting the most expensive, least effective care," such as that delivered in emergency rooms, she said.