On Wednesday the University of Central Arkansas and Arkansas Business hosted a symposium titled "Benefiting Arkansas: Health Issues for Employers" at Reynolds Performance Hall.
Dr. Joe Thompson, surgeon general of the state of Arkansas and director of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, was among the speakers at the symposium.
Thompson discussed the increase in health care cost, which leads to a lack of coverage for many Arkansans. He also said costs could be reduced by individuals making lifestyle choices that lead to better health.
He said the proportion of uninsured Americans (47 million) continues to increase, and health care costs continue to exceed other growth areas. In Arkansas, 520,000 are uninsured, he said.
Premium increases and inflation continue to outpace worker earnings, and copays have increased as well, he noted. The number one cause of bankruptcy is directly tied to non-covered medical expenses, he said. Factors that drive up health care costs include changing demographics, illness burden, medical research, technological advancements and consumer expectations, he said.
In Arkansas, employer-sponsored insurance is the primary source of health care, Thompson said. Children are beginning to be covered by the public sector under ARKids First. The state also covers more than half of pregnancies through Medicaid. Of Arkansans over 65, 99 percent are covered by Medicare, he said. The median family in Arkansas lives at 200 percent of the federal poverty level, he said, which is where many of the state's 520,000 uninsured fall.
Thompson said individual choices can influence health care costs. He addressed the issues of tobacco use and obesity.
In 1990, he said, 10 to 14 percent of adults were obese in most states. In 2006, the numbers had increased with 15 to 29 percent of adults being obese. Obesity leads to earlier death, more chronic disease and drives up health care rates, he said.
The average annual total cost of health care for a person with no risks is $2,382, he said. Being obese, smoking or being physically inactive makes the cost go up. The average cost for a person with any one of the three risk factors is $3,427. The cost continues to go up as a person ages as well, Thompson noted.
He said national and Arkansas childhood obesity trends over the past three decades have increased from 5 percent to 18 percent, however, Arkansas is the one state in the nation that has halted the progression in the last year.
Thompson concluded by saying Arkansas must find innovative ways to achieve health care access that is affordable.
"There is no magic bullet," he commented.
UCA President Lu Hardin also addressed the crowd Wednesday, saying health care will be one of the top two issues in the presidential election, along with the war in Iraq. He said the country needs to have definitive aid that recognizes small business, as well as bipartisan support, or the nation will find itself in a health care crisis.
Hardin noted health care premiums make up $7 million of the university's $150 million budget, and he is looking into self-insuring.
(Staff writer Rachel Parker Dickerson can be reached by e-mail at rachel.dickerson@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1277. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)
