Ohio health insurance costs rise, while median income drops

Between 2001 and 2005 health insurnace premiums rose 34 percent in Ohio (Source: "Rise in health coverage charted," Health policies harder to afford," The Enquirer, April 29, 2008).  By 2005, the average Ohio family health insurance premium was $10,662 up from $7,944.

This report, by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the State Health Access Data Center at the University of Minnesota, also found that Ohio's premium growth exceeded the national average of 29.6 percent during this time period. 

As insurance premium costs rose, median income fell by 5 percent in Ohio, dropping from $41,596 to $39,380.  This drop in income made it even harder for families to afford the increase in health insurance costs in Ohio.  Nationally, family income rose by 3.06 percent from $40,818 to $42,068.

In addition, the report concluded that more than 8,000 Ohio companies stopped providing health coverage between 2001 and 2005.  This stopping of offering health insurance coverage affected more than 515,000 workers.

According to  Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, “This study makes plain what every working parent knows—that providing insurance coverage takes a bigger bite from the family budget every year,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “There is a clear connection between the rising cost of health care and the increasing number of uninsured Americans. As costs continue to go up, fewer people can pay their portion of the premium, and fewer employers are able to offer insurance benefits. This research shows that an ever-increasing number of people will join America’s uninsured unless our nation’s leaders act to reform our health care system” (Source: "Cost of insurance far outpaces income," The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation press release, April 29, 2008).