ACS CAN: The Current Health System Continues to Deteriorate

News reports and private sector actions continue to demonstrate that the current system of health coverage is worsening dramatically.

Private Insurance

• Last month Anthem Blue Cross announced that premiums in the California individual insurance market would increase by as much as 39% this year.[1]
• Anthem in Maine is requesting a 23% increase this year after a 32% increase last year.¹
• United Health, Tufts Medical, and Blue Cross requested 13-16% increases in Rhode Island in 2009.[2]
• Coverage for policy holders declined last year:  3 of the top 5 insurers cut the proportion of premiums they spent on customers' medical care (i.e., more went to profits, salaries and administrative expenses).[3]
• The six largest publicly held health insurers covered 2.2 million fewer people last year.[4]

Employer-sponsored insurance

• Last year, 1.1 million people with employer-sponsored insurance lost coverage.  This continues a long-standing trend.  Since 1999, the percentage of firms offering health benefits declined from 66% to 60% in 2009.[5]
• The percent of nonelderly adults covered by employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) has decreased by 1.1% per year since 2000.  In 2000, 68.9% of nonelderly adults were covered by ESI, this decreased to 63.3% in 2008. ⁵

Medicaid

• Between June 2008 and June 2009, Medicaid enrollment increased by 3.3 million, which is a 7.5% increase over 2008 enrollment. This is the biggest ever 1-year increase in the number of Medicaid enrollees and the first time every state experience an increase in Medicaid enrollment.[6]
• The percent of nonelderly adults covered by Medicaid increased from 5.3% in 2000 to 7.2% in 2008. ⁵
• The percent of children with public coverage increased from 16.7% to 25.2% between 2000 and 2008. ⁵

Uninsured

• The number of uninsured nonelderly adult Americans increased by 1.5 million between 2007 and 2008.[7]

Medicare

• A reduction in physician payments of 21.3% will take affect on March 1.[8]  This is not a sustainable cut without dramatically affecting access to care among the elderly.
• Premiums for Part B (physician services) increased by 15% this year.[9]
• Last year's Medicare trustees report concluded that the Medicare trust fund (Part A, hospital coverage) would be insolvent by 2017. [10] (The 2009 report is scheduled to be released by April 1, 2010.)