Unless President Obama and Congress act, the yearly cost of a health care policy is projected to more than double by 2016, according to a new MoPIRG report. The report, “Health Care In Crisis,” found that, even after adjusting for inflation, the average employer-paid family health policy is expected to rise from $11,381 in 2006 to $24,291 by 2016.
“The facts tell us that, left unchecked, health care costs will financially cripple American businesses and families,” said our federal health care advocate, Larry McNeeley. “We need to act now before the problem escalates further.”
Fortunately, President Obama placed health care at the top of his agenda, and outlined MoPIRG-backed principles that will cut costs and improve care. MoPIRG supports the Obama administration’s key cost-containment provisions, like:
- Give doctors better access to data on which drugs, devices and procedures work best;
- Invest in better technology to manage and track patient records and test results;
- Create incentives for more and better preventative care; and
- Create a health care plan that competes for customers and price with traditional insurers.
