Study shows Iowans spend more than $9,100 a year on health care

(The Center Square) - Iowans spent $29 billion on health care in 2019, or $9,193 a person on average, according to a report from Common Sense Iowa.

The majority of health care costs is for hospital care, followed by physician and clinic services, according to the statistics from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The price is still below the national average of $9,671, the study said.

The Hawkeye State has one of the lowest uninsured resident rates in the country at 4.5%, CSI said in its report. Thirty-six percent of residents were covered by private health insurance, according to CMS statistics. Medicare was 23% of the health insurance market and Medicaid was 16%, according to the statistics. Those numbers are changing, according to the report.

"Between 2013-2022, the rate of employer-sponsored health insurance decreased slightly from 60.2% of the population of Iowa to 59.5%; rates of Medicare enrollment increased from 16.9% to 19.4%; rates of Medicaid enrollment increased from 16.3% to 19.8%; rates of direct insurance (private insurance that is not employer-sponsored such as the private market through healthcare.gov) decreased from 16.5% to 16.1%; and the uninsured rate decreased from 8.1% to 4.5%," the study said.

Iowans are paying more for health care, but the industry is struggling. More health care facilities have closed than opened in the last 15 years, according to CSI.

One-third of Iowa hospitals and 60% of rural ones operated at a loss in 2022, the report said.

"Between 2009 and 2022, average annual hospital expenses in Iowa increased by 66% from $63 million to $104 million," the report said. "Between 2019 and 2021 alone, labor costs, which comprise more than half of hospitals’ total expenses, increased by 19%. As of 2022, average total expenses have now surpassed both average total operating revenue and average total revenue for hospitals in Iowa."

Iowa health care facilities are also facing labor shortages, according to the study. The state could see a shortage of 36,000 low-wage health care workers by 2026, according to a report by global consulting firm Mercer.

"In other words, the projected supply of low-wage healthcare workers is significantly below the projected demand for these positions," CSI said in its report. "While the report also expects many states to have significant gaps in registered nurses and mental health providers—in some cases upwards of 10,000 nurses and 9,000 mental health providers—it expects Iowa to have a shortage of only 1,000 registered nurses and a surplus of 630 mental health providers by 2026."

The Iowa Hospital Association did not return a message to The Center Square asking for comment on the report.