U.S. group finds insured paying more for uninsured

WASHINGTON May 28 (Reuters) - U.S. families with health insurance are paying an estimated $1,017 more in annual premiums to compensate providers for healthcare to the uninsured, a report released on Thursday said.

The report by Families USA, a healthcare reform advocacy group, said doctors, hospitals and other health providers try to recover the cost of uncompensated care by increasing charges for those with private insurance.

The report said the cost shift was borne almost entirely by private insurers because rules in the Medicare health program for the elderly make it difficult for providers to pass on uncompensated care costs to that government program.

Insurers pass those costs to consumers in the form of higher premiums.

That so-called "hidden health tax" in 2009 was $1,017 for a family policy and $368 for an individual, the report said. That compares with an extra $922 in family insurance premiums and $341 for an individual in 2005, when the group had a similar study conducted.

The report is likely to be used by lawmakers to help them make the case for a far-reaching overhaul of the U.S. health industry aimed at containing soaring costs and expanding medical coverage to the uninsured. President Barack Obama has said he wants Congress to pass healthcare legislation by the end of the year.

"Ironically, as the cost of health insurance increases, more people find themselves unable to afford insurance," the report concluded. "As more people lose insurance, there are more people who can't pay all of their medical bills and a further cost shift to private premiums is required."

Many people without insurance put off health care and the study said at least 22,000 people between the ages of 25 and 64 died in 2006 due to the lack of health insurance.

The uninsured who sought treatment in 2008 received about $116 billion in care, the study said. Of that, they paid for about 37 percent of the costs and government programs and charities paid for another 26 percent, the study said.

The rest, about $42.7 billion, was uncompensated care that was passed on to the insured in the form of higher prices for their care, it said.