Health Care and the Middle Class: More Costs and Less Coverage

This analysis paper examines the availability, affordability and stability of the health insurance coverage of the American middle class, defined as those with incomes of $44,000 to $88,000 for a family of four. It also addresses the growing burden of health care costs for the middle class, the adequacy of today’s health insurance plans to protect them from large medical bills, and the difference both make as individuals and families make health care decisions for themselves.

Key findings include:
– Nearly a quarter of the nation’s 45 million non-elderly uninsured are middle class;
– Most middle class Americans with insurance get it through their employers, a source of coverage that has been put in jeopardy by the economic recession;
– Health insurance and medical care have become less affordable for the middle class as the growth in insurance premiums and medical costs has far outpaced that of wages.

Report (.pdf)