Star Member eridani (46,918 posts)
It's the deductibles, stupid!! [View all]
Employer Family Health Premiums Rise 4 Percent to $17,545 in 2015, Extending a Decade-Long Trend of Relatively Moderate Increases
http://kff.org/health-costs/press-release/employer-family-health-premiums-rise-4-percent-to-17545-in-2015-extending-a-decade-long-trend-of-relatively-moderate-increases/QuoteSingle and family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose an average of 4 percent this year, continuing a decade-long period of moderate growth, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) 2015 Employer Health Benefits Survey released today.
The average annual premium for single coverage is $6,251, of which workers on average pay $1,071. The average family premium is $17,545, with workers on average contributing $4,955.
The survey also finds that 81 percent of covered workers are in plans with a general annual deductible, which average $1,318 for single coverage this year. Covered workers in smaller firms (three to 199 workers) face an average deductible of $1,836 this year. That’s 66 percent more than the $1,105 average deductible facing covered workers at large firms (at least 200 workers).
Since 2010, both the share of workers with deductibles and the size of those deductibles have increased sharply. These two trends together result in a 67 percent increase in deductibles since 2010, much faster than the rise in single premiums (24%) and about seven times the rise in workers’ wages (10%) and general inflation (9%).
“With deductibles rising so much faster than premiums and wages, it’s no surprise that consumers have not felt the slowdown in health spending,†Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman said.
Comment by Don McCanne of PNHP: For Quote of the Day subscribers who go straight to the comment (and many of you do), today’s message is presented instantly in a single visual - merely click on the link above and check out the graph accompanying the news release.
In words, the graph shows that, for the past five years, inflation is flat, workers earnings are flat, employer-sponsored health insurance premiums are continuing to increase, and health insurance deductibles are skyrocketing!
That explains why so many patients with “good†employer-sponsored health plans feel that health care costs are out of control, even though we’re told they’re not - their deductibles have increased at seven times the rate of increase in their wages!
We have the wrong model of health care financing in the United States. We need single payer. (Nope. This is the law of the land. You guys wanted it, you mother****ers got it. OWN IT.)
Star Member Javaman (44,533 posts)
20. my GF's deductable is so high, it's like not having healthcare at all.
we will never meet the deductible unless we have something truly horrible happen.
war and healthcare are a racket.
Kilgore (247 posts)
32. Present system has not benefited us at all
We pay $987 a month for a bronze plan covering a family of three in WA state. It was purchased outside the exchange since we don't qualify for any subsidies, and providers accepting ACA coverage are a significant drive away. It has a $10,000 deductible!!!!!!
For essentially the same coverage pre obamacare, we were paying ~$500 a month with a $2,500 deductible. Don't tell me "ya but ACA covers more" I know it does, but those extra features are for benefits that are of no use to me.
Makes no sense, and IHMO, the system is still broken. Seriously thinking of going without coverage and banking the premiums.
Too early in the morning to be pissed off!!!!
a la izquierda (9,139 posts)
14. My deductibles AND co-pays went up.
I have really crappy state insurance through the state university I work for. The university has tried desperately to get private insurance, but the state mandates it.
Star Member Javaman (44,533 posts)Well, pray that something truly horrible does happen so you can recoup your investment
20. my GF's deductable is so high, it's like not having healthcare at all.
we will never meet the deductible unless we have something truly horrible happen.
war and healthcare are a racket.
Well, pray that something truly horrible does happen so you can recoup your investment
Hey, Javaman, good news. I have a diet-based homeopathic cure for her:
(http://image.spreadshirtmedia.com/image-server/v1/designs/11701621,width=178,height=178/Go-suck-a-bag-of-dicks.png)
As luck would have it, I have a cure for you, too:
(http://static02.mediaite.com/themarysue/uploads//2014/01/bag-of-dicks.png)
You know what? I'm feeling magnanimous. My friend has a special gift for all DUmmies:
(http://cdn.meme.am/instances/60486145.jpg)
What I've learned after a three-month war with these fiends: the ACA says the insurance companies cannot deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, which is true as far as it goes. But they can deny coverage for the life-saving medications necessary to treat those conditions. The insurance company I signed up with through the ACA exchange just denied coverage of my wife's multiple sclerosis medication. We're "covered," to the tune of $700 a month...just not for what she really needs.
A cozy loophole, that.
F--- you, insurance industry.
F--- you, Mr. President, you piece of sh*t used-car salesman.
From my heart and soul, f--- you.
- See more at: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/pj-gladnick/2014/03/19/notorious-duer-will-pitt-turns-angrily-against-obamacare#sthash.untnorIp.dpuf