Online Extra...Squeezed From Both Sides
By: Mike Tucker; Source: AARP Bulletin Date Posted: 2006-12-06 17:02:00-05:00
Increasing health insurance costs may soon put the pinch on the personal and retirement savings of some U.S. households, according to a recent study.
"Rising health care costs have clearly eroded the financial security of many Americans," says Jerry Ripperger, director of consumer health for the Principal Financial Group, which funded the 2006 Health Confidence Survey. "As costs continue to go up, people continue to dip into their savings."
The telephone survey of 1,000 respondents age 21 or older was conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Mathew Greenwald Associates Inc. Among the findings:
- Of those respondents who experienced higher insurance costs, 36 percent say the increased health care costs have meant a decrease in savings for retirement, up from 25 percent in 2004; 28 percent say paying for basic necessities is a struggle, up from 18 percent.
- About 60 percent rate the U.S. health care system as "fair" or "poor."
- 74 percent say the quality of their medical care would improve with more information on the success of different treatment options; 70 percent say care would improve if quality and cost comparisons for doctors and hospitals were available.
Ripperger says people are trying to offset health and medical costs by buying generic drugs and trying to take better care of themselves. He adds that Americans should become more politically active to make sure "we're doing a thoughtful approach to health care."
"As a nation, we have consensus on the problem—we know that health care costs are going up, we know we have the uninsured, we know it's putting constraints on American families," Ripperger says. "What we don't have consensus on are solutions."
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