Rising Health Costs the ‘New Health Care Crisis,’ Time Says

The current issue of Time magazine looks at how rising health care costs are contributing to "the new health care crisis." Fueled by increasing drug and hospital prices, health insurance premiums rose 11% last year and are expected to increase another 15% this year, Time reports. Also, as a result of the higher costs and the recession, states -- which collectively face a deficit of $40 billion -- cannot afford the extra Medicaid benefits they started to offer in the late 1990s, when the economy "boom[ed]" and health care expenses "were being held in check." Fourteen states are considering cutting funding, narrowing eligibility or placing restrictions on their CHIP programs. The rising costs are affecting businesses as well, Time reports. For example, a survey of Florida businesses last fall showed that 77% provided health insurance for their employees, down from 91% in 1999. Time reports that the success of the movie "John Q.," which depicts an underinsured father who takes hostages in a hospital in order to get a heart transplant for his son, may be "one measure of popular passion on the subject" of access to health care. The movie was No. 1 at the box office during its opening weekend last month. But Time reports that there is "not much evidence ... that anyone in Washington is paying attention" to the uninsured. Michigan Gov. John Engler (R) said, "While there's conversation going on, it doesn't appear to us to be a very focused conversation or a very clear strategy to get something done" (Tumulty, Time, 3/14).