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Kansas City, MO – Kathleen Sebelius, the former Kansas Governor who's now U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, drew attention to state-specific health problems today. It's part of the White House's latest push to overhaul the nation's health care system. KCUR's Elana Gordon has more.
Sebelius says changing the health care system can't wait. Her statement follows the release of individualized state health data on the uninsured, insurance premium costs, and overall health care quality.
The report says high costs keep about one in ten Kansans and Missourians from going to the doctor. It also shows the average premiums that families pay for insurance in both states have doubled this decade.
Sebelius says this and other data from the report demonstrates the immense problems with health care throughout the country.
SEBELIUS: "Every day in America, families are being crushed by high cost of health care that threatens their financial stability, leads them exposed to high premiums and deductibles, and puts them at risk for possible lost of health insurance."
The report also points to declines in employer-based health coverage, which dropped by about eleven percent in both Kansas and Missouri between the years 2000 and 2007.
Funding for health care coverage on KCUR has been provided by the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City.
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