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Car insurance goes down the older the car, whereas health insurance goes up as you age. It keeps going up until you actually need health insurance, and then they refuse to pay and drop you.
I don't understand why all health insurance policies don't provide full coverage for routine screenings and preventative care. It seems it would save them money in the long run...maybe they're betting (by the time) the subcriber is stricken with (a preventable) illness, they will no longer be their customer.
I wouldn't say it's worthless. If you're with BCBS, you ought to still be getting a discounted rate with network providers over the cash price charged by those providers.
The discount is the reason for the price increases. BCBS wants X% off, so the industry gives it to them and raises their price to make up for it. The next year, BCBS says prices went up and raises rates. This keeps happening year after year, and prices keep getting pushed artificially higher as time goes on.
My health insurance (which is cheap since I am too young to get anything yet) was about $20 a month when I started working 4 years ago... currently its at $27 a month now... that's $7 increase in about 4 years which averages to be about $2 a year increase or 10%... 10% "seems" like a big increase but $2 is hardly a big increase.... the most expensive plan is about $135 a month and include really low deductibles/co-pays (as well as vision and dental)... the most expensive "family" plan is about $365 a month (includes vision and dental)... so I figure the "family deal" with health/vision/dental costs about $4380.... well, that's with my company anyways... doesn't really seem that expensive when the average family makes almost 60k a year... my car insurance (which is also the cheapest plan) is about $280 for a year...
My health insurance (which is cheap since I am too young to get anything yet) was about $20 a month when I started working 4 years ago... currently its at $27 a month now... that's $7 increase in about 4 years which averages to be about $2 a year increase or 10%... 10% "seems" like a big increase but $2 is hardly a big increase.... the most expensive plan is about $135 a month and include really low deductibles/co-pays (as well as vision and dental)... the most expensive "family" plan is about $365 a month (includes vision and dental)... so I figure the "family deal" with health/vision/dental costs about $4380.... well, that's with my company anyways... doesn't really seem that expensive when the average family makes almost 60k a year... my car insurance (which is also the cheapest plan) is about $280 for a year...
The prices you are quoting are not the cost of the insurance. That's the cost of the insurance to you after your company picks up the tab for the bulk of it, which I'm guessing is 70-80% in your case. If you were to be self-employed and shopping for similar plans on your own, you'd be looking at $100 for the cheapest individual plan and upwards of $1000 or more per month for a family plan with all the bells and whistles.
Bottom line is health insurance is extremely expensive in the U.S.
The discount is the reason for the price increases. BCBS wants X% off, so the industry gives it to them and raises their price to make up for it. The next year, BCBS says prices went up and raises rates. This keeps happening year after year, and prices keep getting pushed artificially higher as time goes on.
Right, but the point I was trying to make is that a high deductible plan is not worthless up to the point the deductible is reached. Even if a person never comes close to reaching the deductible, the prices he pays for medical care are still less than what he would pay in cash to the provider (barring cash-price negotiation).
Right, but the point I was trying to make is that a high deductible plan is not worthless up to the point the deductible is reached. Even if a person never comes close to reaching the deductible, the prices he pays for medical care are still less than what he would pay in cash to the provider (barring cash-price negotiation).
But consider that to get that discount I am paying BC/BS almost $10,000/yr for coverage for 1 adult, 1 child and 1 college student. My mortgage is less than my health insurance!
Right, but the point I was trying to make is that a high deductible plan is not worthless up to the point the deductible is reached. Even if a person never comes close to reaching the deductible, the prices he pays for medical care are still less than what he would pay in cash to the provider (barring cash-price negotiation).
Even on a high deductible plan, you can count on paying a couple hundred a month for what amounts to a discount card, and something as simple as a broken arm could still set you back thousands of dollars.
Warren Buffet describes the insurance industry perfectly, and describes why he loves owning them. They collect your premiums and invest them for a profit until they have to make a payout. When medical bills go higher, it gives them the excuse to raise premiums, which means they have more money to invest.
Now we're getting to the point where the insurance companies are collecting premiums for high deductible policies that they'll rarely have to pay a claim on, and we're happy to pay their ransom just to get their discount.
If we want to 'fix' healthcare, the key is to outlaw wholesale price discounting to insurance companies. With the artificial price supports removed, you wouldn't have to pay the insurance company ransom to get the same price that Medicare pays.
Car insurance goes down the older the car, whereas health insurance goes up as you age. It keeps going up until you actually need health insurance, and then they refuse to pay and drop you.
The same coverage actually goes up aftter a car is 5 years old and they can also drop you and often do witrh some peoplke after a accident.Automibile insurance is actaully one of the big mney makers in teh insurnace business. That is why they are always mailing and advertising you to switch companies.
If we want to 'fix' healthcare, the key is to outlaw wholesale price discounting to insurance companies. With the artificial price supports removed, you wouldn't have to pay the insurance company ransom to get the same price that Medicare pays.
My wife recently went to our doctor and had some blood tests done. Total insurance payout including the doctor visit and 5 labs was $114 for an off the street price of $1002.
Incredible.
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