Insured pay 'hidden health tax' to fund care for uninsured

American families with medical coverage incurred a "hidden health tax" of $1,017 each last year as insurers passed on costs for the uninsured, according to a report by an advocate of U.S.-backed care.

The levy was paid by employers or the households themselves, and insured individuals without family coverage each paid surcharges of $368 in 2008, said the report today by Families USA, a Washington-based nonprofit that urges government-sponsored health care.

"Unless and until health-care is expanded, businesses and insured families will continue to be hit hard by a hidden tax," said Ron Pollack, the executive director of Families USA, at a news conference.

A total of 86.7 million Americans under the age of 65, or one of every three in that category, were uninsured for some period during 2007 and 2008, according to the Lewin Group, a health-policy consultant in Falls Church, Virginia.

Lewin developed the estimate for Families USA. Pollock said the number of uninsured Americans has probably increased since the report was researched.

"This was before the current economic difficulties," Pollack said. "The number undoubtedly was considerably higher in 2009." The current "hidden tax" may be closer to $1,100 for each insured family, he said.

The Families USA report found that in 2008, the uninsured received $116 billion of care from hospitals, doctors and other providers.

On average, the uninsured paid more than 37 percent of their health-care costs themselves, the report said. Government programs and charities paid for 26 percent of care, the report said.

Milliman estimated about $42.7 billion in health-care costs were unpaid in 2008. Those costs were shifted to insurers in the form of higher charges for health services, Families USA said. The charges were passed on to families and businesses as higher premiums, the group said.