Some Numbers Worth Keeping In Mind

As Congress adjourns for summer recess, and members of Congress return home to face the folks and talk about health care reform, here are a few numbers to keep in mind, together with their sources:

-The National Federation Of Independent Business says that for the first time in 2008, fewer than half of companies with fewer than 10 employees offer health care coverage to their workers. Insurance premiums for small businesses have more than doubled since 1999. Small Businesses on the average pay 18 percent more for health insurance than their counterparts in large companies pay for comparable plans. And of the estimated 47 million Americans who went without health insurance for at least part of the year in 2008, 26 million were workers in small companies.

-The Commonwealth Fund estimates that over 90% of individuals applying for non-group health coverage end up not buying it, either because their applications are rejected by insurers due to health conditions, or because health conditions caused "write-ups" which raised prices beyond what the applicants could afford. As result, those "consumer-directed" health plans you hear so much about cover only about 11 percent of the eligible population.

-A Small Business Administration study showed that insurer administrative costs for small group health plans can be as much as six times higher than for large group health plans. Large self-insured plans administered by insurers carry an administrative "load" of 5-10 percent of claims costs; for small businesses, the administrative "load" is 33-37 percent of claims costs, which translates to 25-27 percent of premium (quite a load, indeed).

-The Center For American Progress has estimated that administrative costs for individual (non-group) health plans run between 30 and 40 percent of premium.

Unless your Congressman or Senator can tell you exactly how his or her favorite health care reform plan will address these problems in the small business and individual markets, tell your representatives they haven't done their jobs.