Unpaid Wash. medical bills near $1 billion per year

Unpaid Wash. medical bills near $1 billion per year
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Washington's insurance commissioner says unpaid medical bills in the state will cost about $1 billion a year by 2011.

And many of those costs get passed along to people who do have insurance. Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler says the average family pays about $917 a year in added costs. He calls that a "hidden tax."

A new report from Kreidler also says there will soon be about 1 million Washingtonians without health coverage.

He's advocating for national health care reform, which Republicans and Democrats are busy hashing out in Washington, D.C.