Study: Health Care Costs for Kids on the Rise
Out-of-pocket expenses for kids’ health care are rising, and health care spending is growing fastest among Americans under age 18, a new study by the Health Care Cost Institute has found. CNN.com reports:
The institute is an independent nonprofit research organization that partnered with four major insurance companies (Aetna, Kaiser, United and Humana) to analyze 3 billion insurance claims of people with group employer-sponsored health insurance.
The study said consumers’ out-of-pocket expenses rose 7% from 2009 to 2010, according to the institute. For insurers, costs only rose 2.6% during that time period.
Per person under 65, the average annual spending on health care was $4,255 — that’s a combination of what people and their insurance companies paid.
Between 2009 and 2010, it rose 4.5% for Americans under 18. The trend has been upwards for children since 2007, when the average annual expenditure for this group was $1,790, compared to $2,123.
Image: Money, via Shutterstock.
Categories: Child Health | Tags: Child Health, health care, health insurance, money
