Turn your head and cough

Per capita family expenses on health care have more than doubled since 1990 and are predicted to nearly double again over the next 10 years according to government figures.

What's more, a study by Families USA released last Monday concluded that

American workers are paying more for their health insurance and getting less than they were four years ago, and ... also noted that the number of people without insurance jumped significantly since Bush took office, with more than 85 million people uninsured at some point during 2003 or 2004. ...

Worker premiums rose 35.9 percent over the past four years, nearly three times the average growth in earnings, the report said. For family coverage, the employee's portion of the average annual premium grew to $1,947 from $1,433, it said.

But in 26 states ... premiums paid by workers increased more than 40 percent since 2000, the report said.

At the same time, the number of Americans younger than 65 who spent more than a quarter of their earnings on health care increased by 22 percent.

The number of people without health insurance in a two-year period also rose substantially during the Bush administration, from 72.5 million in 1999 and 2000 to 85.2 million during 2003-2004. The latter figure represents more than a third of Americans younger than 65, and thus not covered by the Medicare program. ...

Typically, the Census Bureau reports the number of uninsured Americans as those without health insurance during an entire calendar year. The bureau reported last month that 45 million people were uninsured in 2003, up roughly 5 million people since 2000.

The Census Bureau method obviously understates the problem since it doesn't count those who are uninsured for only part of the year. Which I guess actually isn't a problem after all - provided those folks can be assured they won't need health care during those times.

But then again, there so just so many ways to save on health care costs. You could, for example, just not take your meds.

New York (Reuters Health, October 1) - Out-of-pocket costs may be causing millions of older adults in the U.S. to cut back on prescriptions for conditions as serious as diabetes, asthma and depression, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that among more than 4,000 chronically ill adults age 50 and older, 18 percent said that costs had caused them to cut back on needed medications at least once in the past year. Fourteen percent said that at least once a month they skipped medication doses, delayed filling their prescriptions or took other measures to cut costs.

Translated to the wider U.S. population, the findings suggest that more than one million diabetics may skimp on their medication to lower blood sugar, while three million adults with asthma may cut back on drugs needed to control their disease, the study authors estimate.

Cutting back on drugs for back pain, arthritis, ulcers, asthma and depression was more common than for those relating to potentially life-threatening complications, but even those "can significantly affect quality of life," in the words of lead researcher Dr. John D. Piette of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Not surprisingly, he and his colleagues found that people with lower incomes or higher out-of-pocket drug costs were particularly likely to underuse medications. Survey respondents who lacked prescription drug coverage altogether were at least three times more likely than those with coverage to cut back on medications for high blood pressure, heart disease, heartburn and back pain.

The Families USA study, organized by state, can be found here; the medication study is published in the October issue of the American Journal of Public Health.