whitehouse blog
Exploring the Link between Rising Health Insurance Premiums and Stagnant Wages
The rapid growth in health care spending in the U.S. in recent years has placed an increasingly heavy financial burden on individuals and families, with a steadily growing share of workers’ total compensation going to health care costs. Because firms choose to compensate their workers with either wages or with benefits such as employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI), increasing health care costs tend to “crowd out” increases in wages. Therefore, recent rapid increases in employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have resulted in much lower wage growth for workers.
Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation" (ECEC) survey can shed light on this issue. According to the ECEC data, workers’ inflation-adjusted average total compensation per hour increased by 1.3 percent per year from …
41
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41 — that’s the number of leading economists — including three Nobel Prize winners — who sent a letter to President Obama and Congress yesterday urging the swift passage of comprehensive health insurance reform to curb skyrocketing health care costs. [Source]
41 – is also the percentage of adults under the age of 65 who accumulated medical debt, had difficulty paying medical bills, or struggled with both during a recent one year period. [Source]
Laura Klitzka of Wisconsin is no stranger to the burden of crippling health care costs. In September, we had a chance to visit with her at her home in Green Bay. Here’s her story:
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Your Healthy App Ideas
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Yesterday USDA and First Lady Michelle Obama announced the Apps for Healthy Kids competition – part of Mrs. Obama’s Let’s Move! Campaign to raise a healthier generation of kids. The contest challenges developers to create innovative, fun and engaging tools and games that encourage children to make more nutritious food choices and be more physically active.
To get the ball rolling, The White House and GOOD asked “What kind of healthy kid app would you like to see developed?” on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Here are some of our favorite responses:
From our Facebook fans:
John Allan: A pedometer app for the iPhone that yells …
Competing on the Global Playing Field in the 21st Century
In his State of the Union address, President Obama spoke about doubling America’s exports over the next few years. Today, he discussed the first steps to meet that goal at the Export-Import Bank’s Annual Conference.
While addressing the importance of America being able to compete in the global marketplace, the President explained that every $1 billion increase in exports would support more than 6,000 jobs. To promote American exports, he announced that the administration is launching the National Export Initiative, an effort to utilize the resources of the government in support for businesses that sell goods and services abroad.
The National Export Initiative will increase access to …
The Master Recovery Act Transportation Map
Sometimes it’s good to look up close at how a single Recovery Act project is changing a community for the better and putting people to work. Other times it’s instructuve to take a few steps back and look at the big picture. As an example of the latter, the web team at the Federal Highway Administration created an online map of the U.S. that shows over 12,000 Recovery Act road projects. Each of the dots represented on the map represents a project. The full, interactive version on the map allows you to click the dots in order to learn more about these projects.
Secretary Ray LaHood’s Blog talks …
Celebrating International Women’s Day: From Kabul to Washington, DC
In August 2009, I performed at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, DC in celebration of Afghan Independence Day. At that event, I met Mr. Tim Nusraty, an Afghan-American who now works at the National Security Council at the White House. Many months later, Mr. Nusraty recommended me to perform at the White House on March 8, 2010 for International Women’s Day. When I learned that I was selected to perform, it was the second happiest day of my life. The first was the day I met President Barack Obama and his beautiful wife First Lady Michelle Obama. I have to say that meeting the President, the First Lady, and performing at the White House was surreal. I never thought in a million years …
A New Era of Partnerships: Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships Presents Final Report of Recommendations
This week, the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships presented its final report of recommendations to senior Administration officials at a day-long briefing at the White House.
This first-of-its-kind White House advisory group made up of diverse religious and community non-profit leaders was appointed by the President last spring to develop recommendations on how the government can better partner with faith and neighborhood based organizations. The Council represented leaders from across religious, political and ideological lines, who came together in a spirit of civility and respect to address some of the most pressing issues facing government and nonprofits. They deliberated over months of proceedings and dozens of conference calls and developed more than 60 consensus recommendations.
The Council’s recommendations included:
Providing greater clarity on guidelines …
When Health Insurance Companies Attack
In recent weeks, you’ve probably heard a lot about WellPoint, the big insurance company that reported earning $2.7 billion in one quarter, and then promptly raised rates on some customers in California by up to 39 percent. Those aren’t the only big increases WellPoint has attempted to implement. In 2009, the company sought a 24 percent increase for its customers in Connecticut, and it’s asked to raise rates by 23 percent in Maine this year.
This pattern appears to be working for WellPoint. Recently, a major Wall Street analysis found that WellPoint would be a “primary beneficiary” if reform fails.
So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that WellPoint officials are doing everything they can to stop reform. WellPoint is a part of the coalition that has …
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