/PRNewswire/ -- The Consumer Travel Alliance (CTA), Business Travel Coalition (BTC) and American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) today released the results of an online survey of 1,396 travelers showing widespread surprise and anger over hidden airline fees for services such as checked baggage, advance seating and priority boarding.
Responding to traveler anger, the groups announced the launch of a new website, http://madashellabouthiddenfees.com/, that will allow travelers to tell their own hidden fee stories, create YouTube videos, and sign a petition to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) urging it to take action to require airlines to disclose those fees in advance through every ticketing channel in which airlines sell their seats. The groups also announced that they were marking September 23rd as "Mad As Hell Day!" and planned to deliver thousands of traveler petitions to the U.S. DOT on that day.
"As we come to the end of one of the busiest air travel periods of the year, millions of Americans are returning from their summer vacations tanned, rested, and mad as hell," said Kevin Mitchell, Chairman of the Business Travel Coalition. "They are tired of arriving at the airport and finding huge unexpected costs for travel services they thought were part of the ticket price. It's time for consumers, corporate travel managers and travel agents to stand up and say 'we're not going to take it any more!'"
Conducted over the last two weeks before Labor Day, the hidden fees survey found:
-- Two-thirds (66%) of respondents said they had been surprised at the
airport by unexpected fees for things such as checking bags,
requesting a seat assignment, getting extra legroom, or flying
standby.
-- Nearly a third (29%) said they were surprised often or nearly every
time they travel via air by such fees.
-- Nearly two-thirds (65%) said such fees placed some or a great deal of
unexpected financial strain on their budget for the trip, while more
than a quarter (26%) said that those fees placed a great deal of
unexpected strain.
-- A nearly unanimous 99% of respondents said that they think airlines
should be required to disclose all of their fees in advance on every
website that sells airline tickets.
-- When asked to rank the fees they found most annoying, respondents
rated carry-on baggage fees the most annoying, with 91% calling those
fees "very annoying," followed by seat reservation fees (88% very
annoying), checked baggage fees (74%), and telephone reservation fees
(67%).
"Hidden fees are a violation of a traveler's most basic right: to know how much they will have to pay for their trip," said Charlie Leocha, President of the Consumer Travel Alliance. "When two out of every three air travelers say they have been surprised by hidden fees at the airport, you know the current system is broken and needs to be fixed. Airlines should have to share their fees with every traveler, through every ticketing channel in which they participate, to every point of sale."
The three groups have called on Congress and DOT to take swift action to ensure that all ancillary airline fees are fully disclosed to travelers through every distribution channel in which carriers participate so that the total cost of air travel options can be compared among carriers.
"For a travel agent, comparing air travel costs without fee transparency is like trying to read a book with half the pages torn out," said Paul Ruden, Senior Vice President of Legal and Industry Affairs for the American Society of Travel Agents. "We must level the playing field to ensure that travel agents and their customers can make apples-to-apples comparisons of the costs of each trip."
Methodology
The survey was conducted among 1,396 air travelers from August 20 - August 31, 2010. Respondents were recruited from the readers of online travel newsletters distributed by organizations such as Consumer Traveler and the Consumer Travel Alliance, and the survey was conducted online via SurveyMonkey. Full results of the survey can be found at http://madashellabouthiddenfees.com/.
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Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Thursday, May 28, 2009
'Hidden Health Tax' for Family Health Care Coverage Climbed to $1,017 in 2008
TT Note: Just another glimpse into the small print of taxes we pay everyday. It's just not called a tax.
/PRNewswire / -- The so-called "hidden health tax" for family health care coverage grew to $1,017 in 2008 according to a report released today by the consumer health organization Families USA.
The hidden health tax is the undisclosed insurance premium surcharge, paid by America's businesses and insured families, when they purchase health insurance. That surcharge subsidizes the uncompensated health care costs of the uninsured.
"As more people join the ranks of the uninsured, the hidden health tax is growing," said Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA. "That tax hits America's businesses and insured families hard in the pocketbook, and they therefore have a clear financial stake in expanding health care coverage as part of health reform."
"Reforming our health care system is not just a moral imperative -- it's an economic necessity," said Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. "Today 46 million uninsured Americans turn to emergency rooms when they need medical care and the cost of that care is paid for by every American with insurance. As this report shows, that hidden tax will only continue to grow unless we do something about it. That's why I'm committed to passing comprehensive health care reform this year. We must repeal this hidden tax and lift the burden from American families and businesses by ensuring quality, affordable health care for all Americans."
Families USA contracted with Milliman, Inc., a well-respected, independent actuarial consulting firm, to array and analyze the data for the report.
According to the Families USA report, "uninsured people are less likely to get the care they need when they need it, and they are more likely to delay seeking care as long as possible." When they do receive care, it is paid for in several ways:
-- More than one-third (37 percent) of that care is paid by the uninsured
themselves out of their own pockets;
-- Third-party sources, such as government programs and charities, paid
for another 26 percent of that care; and
-- The remaining amount, approximately $42.7 billion in 2008, is
considered uncompensated care; those costs are shifted onto the health
care bills of insured people, ultimately resulting in the hidden
health tax through higher premiums.
Based on the Milliman, Inc. data, the uncompensated care cost in 2008 across the insured, non-Medicare, non-Medicaid population was $1,017 per insured family and $368 per insured single person.
Based on a previous Families USA report about the hidden health tax in 2005 -- using the same federal data sources used by Milliman, Inc. but arrayed by Dr. Kenneth Thorpe, Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University -- the hidden health tax has grown: for family health coverage it grew from $922 to $1,017 and for individual coverage it grew from $341 to $368.
"Due to the economic downturn, more and more people are losing their jobs and their health care coverage," said Pollack. "As a result, it is highly likely that the hidden health tax for 2009, which is not yet known, will be considerably higher than the $1,017 amount experienced in 2008."
"This new Families USA report shows why all Americans will benefit from health care reform and should push stakeholders to make health insurance work for everyone as soon as possible," said Ronald A. Williams, Chairman and CEO of Aetna Inc. "Covering the uninsured will lighten the burden of the hidden tax on those who have coverage today," he continued. "While doing so, we also must focus on other reforms to improve value and quality in health care."
"This research shows that the market in which we buy our healthcare is filled with cross-subsidies, making it dysfunctional and unsustainable," said Dan Danner, president and CEO, National Federation of Independent Business. "Until individuals understand how much they are really paying for their healthcare, costs cannot be brought under control. Until costs are addressed, we will continue to struggle with coverage."
-----
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/PRNewswire / -- The so-called "hidden health tax" for family health care coverage grew to $1,017 in 2008 according to a report released today by the consumer health organization Families USA.
The hidden health tax is the undisclosed insurance premium surcharge, paid by America's businesses and insured families, when they purchase health insurance. That surcharge subsidizes the uncompensated health care costs of the uninsured.
"As more people join the ranks of the uninsured, the hidden health tax is growing," said Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA. "That tax hits America's businesses and insured families hard in the pocketbook, and they therefore have a clear financial stake in expanding health care coverage as part of health reform."
"Reforming our health care system is not just a moral imperative -- it's an economic necessity," said Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. "Today 46 million uninsured Americans turn to emergency rooms when they need medical care and the cost of that care is paid for by every American with insurance. As this report shows, that hidden tax will only continue to grow unless we do something about it. That's why I'm committed to passing comprehensive health care reform this year. We must repeal this hidden tax and lift the burden from American families and businesses by ensuring quality, affordable health care for all Americans."
Families USA contracted with Milliman, Inc., a well-respected, independent actuarial consulting firm, to array and analyze the data for the report.
According to the Families USA report, "uninsured people are less likely to get the care they need when they need it, and they are more likely to delay seeking care as long as possible." When they do receive care, it is paid for in several ways:
-- More than one-third (37 percent) of that care is paid by the uninsured
themselves out of their own pockets;
-- Third-party sources, such as government programs and charities, paid
for another 26 percent of that care; and
-- The remaining amount, approximately $42.7 billion in 2008, is
considered uncompensated care; those costs are shifted onto the health
care bills of insured people, ultimately resulting in the hidden
health tax through higher premiums.
Based on the Milliman, Inc. data, the uncompensated care cost in 2008 across the insured, non-Medicare, non-Medicaid population was $1,017 per insured family and $368 per insured single person.
Based on a previous Families USA report about the hidden health tax in 2005 -- using the same federal data sources used by Milliman, Inc. but arrayed by Dr. Kenneth Thorpe, Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University -- the hidden health tax has grown: for family health coverage it grew from $922 to $1,017 and for individual coverage it grew from $341 to $368.
"Due to the economic downturn, more and more people are losing their jobs and their health care coverage," said Pollack. "As a result, it is highly likely that the hidden health tax for 2009, which is not yet known, will be considerably higher than the $1,017 amount experienced in 2008."
"This new Families USA report shows why all Americans will benefit from health care reform and should push stakeholders to make health insurance work for everyone as soon as possible," said Ronald A. Williams, Chairman and CEO of Aetna Inc. "Covering the uninsured will lighten the burden of the hidden tax on those who have coverage today," he continued. "While doing so, we also must focus on other reforms to improve value and quality in health care."
"This research shows that the market in which we buy our healthcare is filled with cross-subsidies, making it dysfunctional and unsustainable," said Dan Danner, president and CEO, National Federation of Independent Business. "Until individuals understand how much they are really paying for their healthcare, costs cannot be brought under control. Until costs are addressed, we will continue to struggle with coverage."
-----
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