Great read
The May 2011 medical index by consulting firm Milliman Inc. says health care costs for a family of four will rise 7.3% in 2011 to $19,393 for those insured through work, with employee out-of-pocket expenses up 9.2% this year versus 6.6% last year. “Trends in health care spending still far exceed most other goods and services,” it said....
Premiums are rising even faster in Massachusetts, even after that state introduced its own health care reform in 2006 requiring residents to buy health insurance in that state, according to Consumer Watchdog. Insurance premiums for a single plan have risen 13.4% nationally from 2006 to 2009 versus a much larger 18.4% in Massachusetts, while premiums for a family plan rose 19.8% in Massachusetts in the same period, versus 14.5% nationally.
What makes no sense here is that ObamaCare is based on RomneyCare?
WRRB/Telegram District City Council Forum 10/18
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candida...
5 months ago
9 comments:
It's awful tiring reading supposed insurance experts, yourself included, using the terms "heath care" and "health insurance" interchangeably. I don’t know if its intentional marketing obscurification from the industry, or just good ol’ fashioned American ignorance. But health care has about as much to do with health insurance and the associated costs as the proverbial price of tea in China; well, with the exception of health care costs being driven solely by what insurance is willing to cover +profits. The care exists independent of cost, a doctor in the US being perfectly free to provide services for no cost if he/she chooses. Which is precisely why most people who’ve bothered to give insurance any meaningful thought, recognize it as a necessary evil (scam, really).
Just to clarify what I’m getting at here, my families health care costs if predicted off current needs will rise by exactly zero percent in 2011. That’s because we, like the overwhelming majority of young relatively healthy families in America, require little ongoing care. Outside of dental a pedi annual is about all we require; which is consistent with industry reports showing the top 1% of health care users make up 25% of spending and the next 5% of users paying the next half of spending. So although our health care usage will stay flat barring catastrophe, our insurance costs will predictably rise.
Might seem trivial to some, maybe most. But as someone who has actually worked in health care, it’s rather infuriating to see the two spoken of as interchangeable and inseparable. And I have a funny feeling if the two were broken out as independent things, our national conversations on health care and insurance would take an immediate and drastic turn.
Brendan
Health insurance premiums and the cost of healthcare are two separate things. At the same time they are tied together. As the cost of healthcare increases, premiums go up to cover the increased cost of claims.
Insurance is not a scam. In the words of Coach Bill "It is what it is". If you don't want health insurance, don't buy it. Same with home-owners and car insurance.
Bill
I also think that insurance is driving up the cost of health care.
How many tests are conducted when there's no indication that the patient is even at risk for the condition, but the test is ordered simply because the insurance company will pay?
Steve
???
You are right to a degree. There are alot of unnecessary tests that are done, but it is not because the insurance company wants them to be done.
Doctors need to practice defensively against potential lawsuits. To cover themselves, they requires tests that are covered, which does in fact drive up the cost of healthcare and then premiums.
Bill
Let the consumer of healthcare buy directly from the providers of healthcare and the problems of excessive HC costs will disappear overnight.....or.....in the alternate let the insured buy directly from the insurance company in a national ins. market, doing away with 3rd party middlemen like employers.
I know, I know, too simplistic.....right??
Brendan, just curious, do you make a "profit" in the form of a weekly paycheck.....
"care exists independent of costs" ??????? Not sure what you mean here Brendan? I dont think there are too many things that we need to exist, that exist independent of its costs.
John Hancock
You make some really good pints.
Bill
Bill,
I'm not saying this is THE problem, It's simply one of many.
My point is that the patient would be a lot more selective about what tests were being done if the money was coming out of their pocket, rather than the insurance company.
As an example, My wife went for a physical, which is covered 100% (no co-pay). The Doc sent her for blood tests, and called her in for a followup appointment two weeks later to tell her the bloodwork came back fine. She had to pay a $20 co pay for the followup to the physical. How much was the insurance company paid for that second visit?
People are not careful with other people's money. If the insurance company is paying, the patient isn't going to pay attention. The service providers know what will get paid without question and what will not. Those tests that will be paid without question will be ordered every time.
I think your idea for catastrophic coverage (or whatever you called it - the REALLY high deductible) would solve many problems, including this one.
Steve
Obamacare requires all these tests during your annual preventative exam to be covered 100%. The insurance companies have to cover these tests.
Bill
There are no doubts such that the healthcare costs are increasing day by day and therefore for that we also need to increase the premium cost. And that means premiums go up to cover the increased cost of claims.
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