The Bureau of Labor Statistics website is full of great economic data. I've previously discussed the consumer expenditure survey. One of the items expenditure categories they track is health care related spending. They track total health care spending and break it down into sub categories of health insurance, medical services, drugs and medical supplies. We've all heard how medical costs are going up and up and up and I'm sure most of us have seen our own medical insurance costs increase. So I decided to check out the data on the BLS site to see how average consumer spending on health care looked.
I pulled the data on 'health care' and 'health insurance' off the consumer expenditure pages from BLS. They have info going from 1984 to 2007. Here is a graph of the amounts spent by average consumers in those time periods:
That looks bad doesn't it. Costs just keep going up and up and up. But lets look a little closer. If you figure the average compound annual increase from 1984 to 2007 the spending on health insurance has gone up 6.4% and total health care spending is up 4.4%. If you look at just 1997 to 2007 the increases are 5.8% on insurance and 4.5% total. For the latest 5 years of data the increase was 5.8% for insurance and 4.0% for total.
A 4-6% annual increase is a bit more than inflation as a whole. But an interesting thing happens when you compare health insurance and health care cost spending to our income. From 1984 to 2007 total the after tax income went up from $21,237 to $60,858. Thats an annual growth rate of 4.7%. Before tax income went from $23,464 to $63,091 for a 4.4% annual increase. Increases in income outpaced increases in health care spending from 1984 to 2007.
So while health costs have gone up and up and up our income has actually outpaced the increase in health costs. In fact in 1984 our total health care spending was $1,049 on average and our income after tax was $21,237. That means we spent 4.94% of our after tax income on health care. In 2007 the spending increased to $2,853 and income increased to $60,858. That represented 4.69% of our income. While health care costs appear to have gone through the roof, the % of our income we spend on health care actually went DOWN a fraction of a percent.
I should make a couple points about this. First of all I'm looking at average figures. This doesn't really show much of a picture. It also doesn't capture the impact from more and more Americans who are going without health insurance altogether. They are spending less because they are choosing not to spend anything on insurance at all. While we are spending about the same total on health care fewer people are actually covered by insurance. So there is a net loss.
[edit 5/20 : fixed typo in post title]
May 14, 2009
History of Consumer Spending on Health Care and Health Insurance
May 13, 2009
KFC giving rainchecks for coupons + free Pepsi
Previously I'd reported that KFC had canceled their free grilled chicken coupons. That is what I had read in the news article at the time. The article used the word 'canceled'. However KFC is actually giving out rainchecks for the coupons so you can use them at a later date. Plus they're adding free Pepsi to the deal. Read about the raincheck at KFC's site. You have to get a form at a KFC to fill out and return it with your original coupon by May 19th.
Personally I still think that changing the original terms of the deal is lame on the part of KFC. But at least they are giving people an opportunity to get the free meal plus throwing in a free drink as well.
May 12, 2009
Restaurant.com $25 certificate for $3 until May 16th
Save 70% Off with every order of $25 Gift Certificates with code TASTY. Pay $3 thru 5/16/09.
Info on Restaurant.com certificates:
I have used these at my steak house in the past and they worked great. Unfortunately though the steak house stopped taking the certificates. If you're interested in getting a certificate then first check the Restaurant.com site and see what restaurants in your area take the certificates. Second be sure to check out the rules and limitations for the gift certificates. For example a restaurant may require a minimum purchase of $50 to use the $25 certificate and a mandatory 18% gratuity. The rules differ for each restaurant so pay close attention to them. Lastly I wouldn't recommend buying them unless you plan to use them shortly. The restaurants that accept the certificates can change over time.
For more on saving money at restaurants see my older posts:
My 2¢ - Gold Peaked Over a Year Ago
This is nothing more than my personal opinion:
I believe the price of gold peaked in Spring 2008. Take a look at the chart of gold prices from 2000 til now from Kitco.com
Here is the reasoning behind my opinion: Gold is strong right now because it is getting interest as a safe haven during the recession. People are scared away from stocks, real estate and bonds since they've all been battered. The interest rate is at historic lows so safe investments like treasuries and CDs are not too appealing. So many people turn to gold thinking its safe and has high / increasing value. Gold has boomed for years and is due to bust. There is nothing in the market really keeping gold prices up other than high demand. There is no shortage of the metal for its normal uses. The run up and current high value of gold is based on market supply/demand inflated by speculation and high demand. As soon as the recession turns around the market for gold will drop off and the prices will fall too.
But again all this amounts to is my opinion. My opinion on such matters are really no better than anyone elses.
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