Health costs eating a bigger chunk of household budgets in California

San Francisco Chronicle / January 24, 2024

Health care affordability is worsening in California, with health care costs rising significantly faster than household income, and more than half of the state’s residents saying they or a family member skipped or delayed care in the past year because of cost, according to a report released Tuesday by the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

The analysis focuses on the growing costs of job-based health coverage, which is how most Californians under age 65 get health care, from 2002 to 2022.

During that period, median household income grew an average of 3% each year, while health care premiums and deductibles rose an average of 7% and 9% each year, respectively.

SNIP

In 2002, when typical employer-based health plans did not have deductibles, insurance premiums made up 4.2% of median household income, according to the report. By 2022, when large deductibles had become more common, the combined costs of premiums and deductibles had risen to 12.2% of median household income.

LINK (paywall): https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/health-care-cost-california-18624172.php

Highlights (from the link):

• 52% of Californians say they or a family member skipped or delayed health care in the past year because of cost concerns

• 36% have medical debt

• 27% have problems paying a medical bill

• Survey respondents also said they forfeited or delayed filling prescriptions, cut pills in half, or skipped doses.