New Report: Private Health Insurance Costs Far Outstrip Wages in Minnesota

Read the Report Here

St. Paul, MN -- The skyrocketing cost of health insurance is increasingly putting health care further out of reach of working families and businesses in Minnesota, according to a new report released today by TakeAction Minnesota as part of Health Care for America Now (HCAN) – the nation’s largest health care campaign.Due to crushing job losses amidst an 8.1 percent Minnesota state unemployment rate as of April, working families statewide are finding themselves without health benefits just as the cost of buying coverage through private insurance companies climbs to new records.

The new HCAN report on private health insurance affordability in Minnesota put forth some alarming statistics:

- While income for Minnesotans grows by .8 percent (that’s point eight percent!), the full cost of employer-sponsored health insurance in Minnesota is projected to grow at an annual rate of 8.5 percent.
- Health insurance premiums rose 74 percent between 2000 and 2007 for Minnesota families. In dollars, that means the cost of family health coverage in Minnesota has increased from $6,957 to $12,090, and workers in Minnesota are not making enough money to keep up.
- From 2000 to 2007, health insurance premiums rose 4.3 times faster than wages.
- For family health coverage in Minnesota, the average employer’s portion of annual premiums rose 77 percent, while the average worker’s share grew by 66 percent, from 2000 to 2007.

“These startling numbers show health insurance companies are taking advantage of hard-working families, and we cannot wait for comprehensive health care reform that puts people’s health care needs before the profits of the private insurance companies,” said Laura Askelin, President of the AFL-CIO Southest Area Labor Council and AFSCME Council 5 political organizer. “While Minnesotans are worrying whether health care will be there for them when they need it most, health insurers are busy spending money lobbying Members of Congress to vote against real choice and competition in the health care marketplace. Minnesotans need the kind of choice a public plan would offer: lowered costs, a guaranteed back-up health plan, and keeping insurance companies honest.”

Monday’s report indicates that reliance on private health insurers has been a losing proposition for Minnesotans. A new poll last week from NBC/Wall Street Journal showed that 3 out of 4 Americans support President Obama’s plan to create a public health insurance option NOT run by the insurance companies. Such a government-sponsored health insurance option would provide real competition with private health insurers to lower costs and provide a guaranteed accessible back-up plan for individuals and families not able to keep up with the outrageous costs of the private insurance market.

On June 24 and 25, nearly 70 representatives from Minnesota, all members of Minnesota’s “Make Health Happen” health care reform coalition, will join thousands of health care activists in Washington, D.C. for the largest-ever lobbying effort in support of a public health insurance option as a centerpiece of federal health care reform legislation this year. Activists will meet with members of their congressional delegations, including Senator Amy Klobuchar, lobbying them to publicly support President Obama’s health care reform plan.  In addition to Laura Askelin, Minnesota’s HCAN representatives also include:

- Kathryn “Jody” Beaulieu (Tribal Secretary, Red Lake Nation Tribal Council)
- Rev. Grant Stevenson (President, ISAIAH)
- Linda Slattengren (President, Minnesota Nurses Association)
- Lynn Schurman (Co-Owner, Cold Spring Bakery, ISAIAH GRIP leader)