The cost of health insurance for Maine families increased three times faster than policyholders’ incomes from 2001 to 2005, according to a study released today by the Princeton, N.J.-based Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
From 2001 to 2005, the amount Maine employees paid for family coverage through their job increased 27.3%, from $8,281 in 2001 to $10,728 in 2005, while the median income of those policyholders increased only 9.5%, according to the study. Nationally, the discrepancy is more severe: The amount employees pay for family coverage jumped 30%, while policyholders’ income increased only 3%.
The study also found that the percent of private sector employers in Maine that offered health insurance in 2005 was 55.6%, a 0.72% increase from the 55.2% of private sector employers who offered health insurance in 2001.
