Annual update: Another massive hike in health insurance rates

Yawn.

Is anyone surprised?

We received our new rates for the cost of the health insurance that we offer to employees. The single rate increased 21% and the family rate increased a whopping 27%. I surveyed other WNY health insurance plans and they all have similar increases.

Click here for the ongoing documentation in this blog on the issue. If you can stomach it.

This is not a local New York phenomenon - you will begin hearing a lot of press on this issue now that the October and November rates that reflect mandates from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ('so-called ObamaCare') are being implemented. Headlines out of a neighboring state are similar. Insurance companies claim that removal of lifetime limits, removal of pre-existing condition waiting periods, and assorted other mandates are responsible for driving up the costs.

What this will mean, of course, is that fewer families will be able to afford insurance - which will lead to the accelerated collapse of a medical system that is trying to provide care for people who can no longer afford coverage. If people try to afford health insurance plans they will opt for plans that provide fewer and fewer benefits - and the real kick in the teeth is that even the tax benefits for some health FSAs are being reduced - which is another sucker punch delivered directly at the middle class.

Our politicians/social engineers couldn't get a national health plan in the front door, so this is the next best thing from their perspective. When no one can afford to purchase insurance (employers or their employees) I suppose everyone will fall into some version of a government option.

Bottom line: People had options on who to elect, and then people learned that elections have consequences, and then the system consumed the people who elected it and ironically has taken away all of their options. Sad.

Comments

Jodie said…
No! I am not surprised by the increase in the cost of health insurance. I live in Vermont and cannot even afford to purchase healthcare for my son through my employer due to the outrageous premiums. The increase in these rates is having such an effect on all aspects of health care. Working in the healthcare field, we are noticing a decrease in the number of client's due to the costs associated with healthcare, including premiums, deductibles, and co-pays. With the poor economic times, everyone is feeling the pinch and I think that this will only continue until something is done to change the entire situation and healthcare is "renovated."
11:57 AM
Anonymous said…
You described a nasty circle of events in your conclusion.

I picked-apart some of the healthcare insurance industry in a series of posts last year. I can't claim any good answers not to mention comprehensive understanding, but I made a few valid points. The posts are linked in a box in the middle column of my blog.
Barbara
3:23 PM
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