More tying the knot to get health insurance

May 14,2008 00:00 by Chicago-Tribune

ASHINGTON—Some people marry for love, some for companionship and others for status or money. Now comes another reason to get hitched: health insurance.

In a poll released Tuesday, 7 percent of Americans said they or someone in their household decided to marry in the past year so they could obtain health-care benefits via their spouse.

"It's a small number, but a powerful result, because it shows how paying for health care is reflected not only in family budgets but in life decisions," said Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which commissioned the survey as part of its regular polling on health care.

On a broader scale, the survey found that health-care costs outranked housing costs, rising food prices and credit card bills as a source of concern.

Of those surveyed, 28 percent said they had experienced serious problems because of the cost of health care, nearly tied with 29 percent who had problems getting a good job or a raise.

Gas prices were the top economic worry, with 44 percent saying they had serious problems keeping up with increases at the pump.

A companion poll also detected an important shift among voters: Independents in particular now say they are more concerned about reducing medical costs than about increasing the number of Americans with health insurance.

An earlier Kaiser poll from February found that 37 percent of independents wanted the presidential candidates to address costs first, while 32 percent cited the problem of getting coverage for the 47 million uninsured people.

But in the latest poll, 46 percent of independents said the candidates should deal with costs, and only 25 percent said expanding coverage should come first.

"The general election is going to be a contest for independent voters," Altman said. "To appeal to independent voters, the candidates are increasingly going to have to frame health care as an economic issue."

Health-care inflation has been rising at about twice the rate of economic growth, and it is unclear how much of a difference better prevention, computerized medical records and other ideas for containing costs might prove to be.

But with health insurance averaging about $12,000 for family coverage and $4,500 for individuals through an employer, the public concern with costs is easy to understand. And it might not be surprising that nearly one-fourth of Americans said they decided to keep or change jobs in the past year because of health insurance.

What took even researchers by surprise was that such costs have become a factor in marriage decisions.

Said Altman, "We should have asked about divorce."

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