April 29, 2008
Contact: Bev Pfeifer-Harms
Director of Communications
314.345.5500 office

Missouri Insurance Premiums Squeeze Employers, Workers

ST. LOUIS - From 2001 to 2005, the average premium per covered employee of Missouri businesses offering health insurance as a benefit increased 35.7 percent, while the median income of Missouri workers who have employer-based health insurance increased just 1.46 percent. The result is that more Missouri employers are limiting or eliminating coverage and more Missouri workers are joining the ranks of the uninsured, according to the Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH).

The gap between the significant increase in health insurance premiums and workers' income in Missouri was one of several findings in a study released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that describes changes in employment-based health insurance from 2001-2005.

"These latest figures describe a situation in the state that is rapidly approaching crisis proportions," said Dr. James R. Kimmey, MFH's President and CEO. "Although much of the focus in Missouri's most recent legislative sessions has been on the individuals displaced from Medicaid in 2005, workers losing health coverage because they cannot afford the premiums is another key contributor to Missouri's growing uninsured problem."

The Robert Wood Johnson study, which was carried out by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) at the University of Minnesota, examines the effects of increases in health insurance premiums as compared to income in all 50 states.

Other Missouri-specific findings concerning the health insurance situation in this state are:

• The number of employers offering health insurance to their employees declined by
  10.1% from 2001-2005, resulting in an additional 128,066 individuals without access
  to health insurance through employment.
• The number of individuals in Missouri under age 65 with private insurance decreased
  by 8.5% during that same period.
• The number of Missourians under 65 without any insurance coverage increased from 537,168 to 715,654 - a 29.8% increase. That is the 5th highest increase among the
  50 states.

Nationally, changes in the approach to providing insurance through employment have been central elements of the Presidential candidates' programs for improving health coverage. At the state level, this study shows that all areas of our country are touched by this near-crisis. "These data confirm findings from other studies that indicate the employment-based approach to providing health coverage is in serious trouble in Missouri and in the country," Kimmey said. "If it is to continue to be the method of choice for such coverage, it needs serious restructuring."

Established in 2000, MFH is the largest non-governmental funder of community health activities in Missouri. MFH is in its sixth year of grantmaking, having issued nearly $290 million in grants and awards to date. It is dedicated to serving the uninsured, underinsured and underserved in 84 Missouri counties and the City of St. Louis.

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