Notable Numbers

Notable Numbers

• 74.2%: percentage of U.S. workers who had employer-provided coverage in 2000¹
• 70.5%: percentage of U.S. workers who had employer-provided coverage in 2005²
• 63.3%: percentage of U.S. workers who had employer-provided coverage in 2008³
• 59%: percentage of U.S. workers who had employer-provided coverage in 2010⁴
• 9%: expected increase in health care costs in 2011⁵
• About 7%: percentage of health care dollars that go to administrative costs in plans that serve employers with 1,000 or more employees⁶
• 26%: percentage of health care dollars that go to administrative costs in plans that serve employers with 25 or fewer employees⁷
• 30%: percentage of health care dollars that go to administrative costs in plans that serve the individual market⁸
• 5%–6%: percentage of health care dollars that go to administrative costs in Medicare⁹
• 65%–70%: percentage of all health care costs that are related to behaviors such as smoking, exercise or diet¹⁰
• 25%: estimated percentage of all American adults who are sedentary¹¹
• $81,500: average total cost for coronary artery bypass graft surgery in the U.S.¹²
• $58,800: average total cost for coronary artery bypass graft surgery in England¹³
• $9,400: average total cost for coronary artery bypass graft surgery in India¹⁴
• $250,000: Estimated cost of a retired couples' overall health care expenses from age 65 until death, including premiums and out of pocket costs, assuming they do not have employer-provided coverage¹⁵
• 54%: percentage of U.S. households reporting that their total net worth excluding the value of their primary home is less than $25,000¹⁶
• $515,000: the average cardiovascular surgeon's salary (assuming three or more years of experience)¹⁷
• $135,000: the average family practitioner's annual salary (assuming three or more years of experience)¹⁸

¹ E. Gould, "Health Insurance Eroding for Working Families: Employer-Provided Coverage Declines for Fifth Consecutive Year," Economic Policy Institute Briefing Paper #175, Sept. 27, 2006.
² Ibid.
³ A. W. Mathew, "Workplace Set to Remain a Key Source of Coverage," The Wall Street Journal, May 17, 2010.
⁴ Kaiser Family Foundation, Employer Health Benefits 2007 Annual Survey (Menlo Park, Calif.: Kaiser Family Foundation, Sept. 2007).
⁵ PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Behind the Numbers: Medical Cost Trends 2011 (New York: PriceWaterhouseCoopers, June 2010).
 ⁶Congressional Budget Office, Key Issues in Analyzing Major Health Insurance Proposals (Wash., D.C.: CBO, Dec. 2008).
⁷ Ibid. 
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ S. Aldana, "The Costs of Unhealthy Behaviors," WELCO's Absolute Advantage Magazine, 6(4):22–9, 2007.
¹¹ P. Waehner, "Top 10 Reasons You Don't Exercise: No More Excuses," About.com Guide, Jan. 12, 2010.
¹² AllMedicalTourism, Coronary/Heart Bypass, http://www.allmedicaltourism.com/uk/heart-surgery/heart-bypass.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ Fidelity Investments, Retiree Health Care Costs Estimate, http://www.fidelity.com/inside-fidelity/employer-services/fidelity-estimates-couple-retiring-in-2010-will-need-250000-to-cover-healthcare-costs.
¹⁶ R. Helman, C. Copeland, and J. VanDerhei, The 2010 Retirement Confidence Survey: Confidence Stabilizing, But Preparations Continue to Erode (Wash., D.C.: Employee Benefit Research Institute, March 2010).
¹⁷ Allied Physicians, Inc., Los Angeles Times, and Rand McNally, Physician Salaries and Salary Surveys, June 2006, http://www.allied-physicians.com/salary_surveys/physician-salaries.htm.
¹⁸ Ibid.