Some data on health care and health care reform in North Carolina

(With all due respect to Harper’s Index.)

Percentage of North Carolinians who are uninsured: 21%
Rank of North Carolina among the states and the District of Columbia in the portion of residents that are uninsured: 15th
Average cost of an emergency room visit in Wake County, NC: $1,100
Percentage of the uninsured who say the emergency room is their usual source of care: 20%
Approximate percentage of US bankruptcies driven by medical incidents: 60%
Number of personal bankruptcy filings in North Carolina, 2007-2008: 19,113
Estimated annual cost to North Carolina due to productivity losses stemming from lack of health insurance: $4 billion
Ratio of the increase in family health care premiums in North Carolina from 2000-2007
to the increase in NC median earnings: 5.3 to 1
Amount BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina (BCBSNC), a non-profit company, reported in profits in 2008:
$186 million
Chances that a privately insured North Carolinian is covered by BCBSNC: 3 in 4
Amount Medicare consumes in administrative costs for every dollar spent: 3 cents
Amount BCBSNC spends on non-medical expenses for every dollar in revenue: 15 cents
Amount BCBSNC charged North Carolina this year for cost overruns in administering the state employees’ health plan: $200 million
Amount of money in BCBSNC’s reserve account: $1.3 billion
Approximate amount BCBSNC spent to sponsor the US Open in 2005: $478,000
Approximate amount BCBSNC CEO Rob Greczyn received in executive compensation in 2008: $4 million
Amount the BCBSNC PAC and individual employees gave to state political campaigns from 2000-2007: $643,000
Amount Senator Kay Hagan received from health sector PACs in 2005-2006,
expressed as a percentage of the money spent by her state senate campaign: 9%
Rank of health sector PACs among PACs donating to Senator Hagan in the 2008 election: 4
Rank of health sector PACs among PACs donating to Senator Hagan since her appointment to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee: 1
Number of Democratic senators on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee who have not yet announced their support for a public option: 1
Percentage of Americans who support a public option, according to a CBS News poll: 72%
Amount Kay Hagan received from ActBlue contributors in 2008,
as a percentage of money spent by her US Senate campaign: 19%
Amount contributed to Kay Hagan’s 2008 senate campaign from the Asheville metro area: $74,753
Number for Kay Hagan’s Washington, DC office: (202) 224-6342