This
article will explain the health insurance cost (prices) in the United States of
America. This article was written to cover the health insurance in major
cities. The cost of health insurance in the United States is a major factor in
access to health coverage. The rising cost of health insurance leads more
consumers to go without coverage and increase in insurance costs and
accompanying rise in the cost of health care expenses has led health insurers
to provide more policies with higher deductibles and other limitations that
require the consumer to pay a greater share of the cost themselves.
Many people
with pre-existing conditions such as cancer and depression are turned down for
coverage, denied coverage of those conditions or are charged higher prices for
coverage.
BACKGROUND
The
US is the “only industrialized nation that relies heavily on a for-profit
medical insurance industry to provide basic health care," as Senator
Dianne Feinstein has said, and the Pulitzer-prize winning Politifact watchdog
group has confirmed.[1] The Kaiser Family Foundation claims that health
insurance costs are driven not only by the added cost of health insurers making
their profits, but also by rising health costs and administrative costs.
In
2004, employer-sponsored health insurance premiums grew 11.2% to $9950 for
family coverage, and $3695 for a single person, according to a survey by the
Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Education Trust. The survey
also found that 61% of workers were receiving employer sponsored health
insurance.
Five
years later, Kaiser’s 2009 survey found that employer health insurance premiums
were $13,375 for a family and $4824 for a single person. About 60% of workers
were receiving employer sponsored health insurance. Less than half (46%) of
employees at small firms with 3 to 9 workers received coverage. As of 2008, the
percentage of Americans receiving employer sponsored health insurance had
declined for the eighth consecutive year, says the Kaiser Family Foundation.
From
1999 to 2009, Kaiser found that the insurance premiums had climbed 131% or
13.1% per year, and workers’ contribution toward paying that premium jumped
128% or 12.8% per year. In 1999, workers’ average contribution to the premium
was $1543, and in 2009 it was $3515. For employers, their contribution was $4247
in 1999 and $9860 in 2009.
The
lower a families’ income is, the less likely that they can purchase health
insurance, according to 2008 US Census figures. About 14.5% of households with
$50,000 to $75,000 in income did not have health insurance. While 24.5% of
households with $25,000 or less income went without health insurance.
A
March 2010 study by the Center for Studying Health System Change, a Washington,
DC think tank, found that out-of-pocket costs for health insurance premiums and
services were rising faster than family incomes. Published in the journal
Health Affairs, the study found “…After accounting for general inflation,
family incomes remained stagnant between 2004 and 2006, while out-of-pocket
spending on premiums and health care services increased 8.5% over the two-year
period. Overall, total out-of-pocket spending increased, on average, about 5
percent annually between 2001 and 2006, and was similar for the 2001–4 and
2004–6 periods.”[7] The report found the largest increases in out-of-pocket
expenses were for those with private health insurance, including middle- and
higher-income families. The study was based on 2001 through 2006 data.
Impacted
populations
PRE-EXISTING
CONDITIONS
People
with pre-existing conditions typically cannot obtain any, or at best, limited
coverage or more costly coverage for those conditions. This situation is
expected to be corrected by the health reform bill being considered by the US
Congress in early 2010. Currently, those with pre-existing conditions must pay
the cost out-of-pocket, and some resort to medical tourism, obtaining treatment
in other countries or US regions, to obtain more affordable health treatment.
This is especially difficult for those impacted by cancer, heart condition and
other serious illnesses where treatment costs can easily run into the tens of
thousands of dollars or higher within a few days or weeks. According to the
Kaiser Family Foundation, 21 percent of those who apply for health insurance on
their own are turned down, charged a higher price or denied coverage for their
pre-existing condition. [9]Among the conditions that be considered
“pre-existing” by insurance companies are domestic violence, cancer, asthma,
depression and occupations such as police officer and construction worker
SELF-EMPLOYED
The
9 million self-employed workers have a greater challenge than many people to
find affordable health insurance. They represent 8 percent of the US labor
force, and essentially pay a tax on their health insurance premiums, unlike any
other workers. They pay a tax of 15.3 percent of their net earnings, double the
rate of wage and salary earners.
Low-income
families
For
Americans earning less than $24000 per year, few have health insurance, or,
they rely on government insurance (Medicaid). In this income bracket, more than
half of people ages 27 to 37 do not have health insurance. This number drops
when people reach their 40s, but even into their late 50s, more than one-third
of these Americans are uninsured.[13] When new health reform laws take effect,
low-income families will receive subsidies to help them pay for health
insurance. These subsidies will paid through higher taxes paid by people with
higher incomes.
State
cost-control efforts
California: On March 23 2010, the
California State Assembly’s Health Committee passed a bill that would require
health insurers and health maintenance organizations to have same strict
regulation that has covered automobile and other types of property insurance
for the last two decades. The bill would require approval of some rate hikes by
state agencies, and must next be considered by the state legislature.
Iowa: In March 2010, Iowa senior advocates
and the AARP asked state legislators to act on a measure that would require
state regulators to hold hearings when rate increases are proposed and issue an
annual report about insurance rates.
Massachusetts: The State of Massachusetts
held a three-day hearing in March 2010 to discuss ways to better control health
insurance and other costs. Addressing these costs, Massachusetts Secretary of
Health and Human Services Dr. JudyAnn Bigby said "As we examine all of the
causes of increasing health care costs and implement reforms, we must strive to
bring premiums down without sacrificing access to care or requiring consumers
to pay more out of pocket."
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