The Rest of the Story About the Economic Good News

By PAUL KECKLEY Legendary radio commentator Paul Harvey ended his daily report with a final story introduced by the tease “Now for the rest of the story.” Last Tuesday, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that median household income increased 5.2% in 2015 to $56,516—the first increase in inflation adjusted income since the start of the downturn in 2007. The Bureau also noted that the U.S. poverty rate decreased to 13.5% in 2015, down from 14.8% in 2014 and those lacking health insurance coverage shrank to 9.1% from a high of almost 16% in 2007. According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, that’s the first time all three have improved in 20 years which it attributes to a lower unemployment rate (5.3% vs. 6.2% in 2014) representing an increase of 3.3 million in the workforce. That’s the story, but here’s the rest of the story. Indeed, the news is positive, but the rest of the story illuminates cautionary signals for health industry watchers: Household income: Inflation adjusted income is at its 10 year high, but in 1999, most Americans had higher income ($57,909) than today. Household income is increasing because adults are working longer hours and multiple jobs to make ends meet. Prices for necessities are eating away at income growth: in the same timeframe, food costs increased more than 5%, education costs were up 7% and out of pocket costs for healthcare up 8%. The only major category where households got a break was fuel costs—down 15%. But gas pr...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Paul Keckley Source Type: blogs