According to a new report by Families USA, a consumer health organization that tracks health care issues, premiums for employer-provided family health insurance will cost, on average, an extra $922 in 2005 to cover the unpaid medical expenses of the uninsured. The report projects these costs will rise to $1,502 in 2010. Ohio's costs are estimated to be $847 higher in 2005 and expected to reach $1,392 per family by 2010. The report found that one-third of the health care costs incurred by the uninsured are paid by the uninsured themselves-the remaining costs are what is considered "uncompensated care." Of this, a portion is picked up by federal, state and local government sources, and the remainder are shifted and added to the premiums for people who have health coverage. It is this hidden cost shift that the new report calculates for the first time. Families USA estimates nearly 48 million Americans will be uninsured for the entire year of 2005. Of those, approximately 1.5 million will be Ohioans. A copy of the report is available at www.familiesusa.org