Rising health care costs are breaking the backs of American families. In many ways, as Anne Case and Angus Deaton have argued, the seeds of the economic discontent felt by so many in the US can likely, in part, be traced back to the health care system. The extent to which health care cost growth has outpaced wage growth is staggering. From 2000 to 2019, health spending in the US increased 87 percent while median household income increased by only 10 percent. Today, average annual health insurance premiums for a family of four are $21,342. That’s the equivalent of a family buying a new Toyota Corolla worth of insurance each year.
View the full article on the Health Affairs website