WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today released “Protecting Families and Putting More Money in Your Pocket: How Health Insurance Reform Will Lower Costs and Increase Choices,” a report that says health-insurance reform will benefit families across the country.
The report is available at www.HealthReform.gov.
“Health insurance reform isn’t about politics, it’s about families. Every day, millions of families across the country wonder how they will pay their skyrocketing medical bills or what they will do if their children get sick,” Sebelius said. “Those families are our priority and we are fighting to give them the affordable, secure, stable coverage they need.”
Under the health care status quo, the average premium for a family plan bought through an employer is $13,375, more than double the premium in 2000 and premiums have grown more than three times faster than wages. The number of people in working families who spend more than 10 percent of their income on health care has more than tripled. Additionally, a recent survey estimated that 72 million nonelderly adults have accumulated medical debt or had difficulty paying medical bills in the past year, and 61 percent of them had insurance.
