The Rising Costs of Health Care
A Decade of Health Care Cost Growth: Impact on the American Family
How do soaring health care costs affect the finances of the average American family? A new RAND Health study shows that the doubling of health costs between 1999 and 2009 largely wiped out an average family's real income gains. In fact, in 2009 the family had a net gain of only $95 per month. If health care costs had tracked general inflation over the decade, the family would have had nearly $5,400 more in 2009.
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RAND Health, in partnership with The Council of State Governments (CSG), used the RAND COMPARE simulation model to assess the likely effects of the ACA on insurance coverage and state government health-care spending in five states (California, Connecticut, Illinois, Montana, and Texas). The percentage of residents with health care coverage is expected to rise significantly in all five states; health care spending will also increase in four of the five states (all except Connecticut).
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