Health insurance premiums for individuals who buy coverage on their own are soaring, according to a study released Monday. When lawmakers debated the health care reform bill, health insurance companies were trying hard to make as much money as they could before the law’s provisions kick in. Individuals that are facing sharp increases in their insurance premiums are also trying to save money by settling for fewer benefits and higher deductibles. In the mean time, steadily increasing insurance premiums, the a drop within the number of employers offering health coverage, and the recession swelled the ranks of the uninsured by nearly 3 million individuals in 2009.
Health insurance expense trends
Premium hikes for health insurance for individuals far exceed increases in the premiums for employer-sponsored coverage, as reported by a new survey on health insurance cost trends from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The Associated Press reports the non-profit foundation said premium hikes for individual coverage averaged 20 percent. Customers who got to switch to cheaper plans brought the average increase in what individuals are paying for health insurance down to 13 percent. This year’s individual health insurance premium spike tops last year’s 5 percent average increase for employer-sponsored family coverage. Health insurance cost trends for employer-sponsored single coverage held to be really steady.
Pricey health care insurance for individuals
The increasing cost of health insurance for people made news earlier this year when Anthem Blue Cross tried to raise its rates by as much as 39 percent in California. As outlined by the New York Times, the Kaiser study sheds light on how widespread these premium hikes are. According to the New York Times, when the proposed Anthem hikes were met with outrage from federal and state officials, there was little information about how widespread such increases were in other parts of the country. Drew Altman, the Kaiser foundation’s president and chief executive, told the Times that “The survey shows that the steep increases we are reading about over the last several months are not just extreme cases.”
Healthcare reform a long wait
The Kaiser survey highlights all of the challenges that about 14 million people younger than 65 who purchase their coverage in the individual market will face until changes under the health care reform law kick in 2014. All Americans can be required to have health insurance by then. In the meantime, 52 percent of respondents in the Kaiser survey who already buy their own individual health coverage said they would keep their current plan next year, when 32 percent said they were not sure. Another 14 percent said they would switch companies in hopes to cut costs.
High deductibles on health insurance plans
To try and save a lot of money, people are getting plans that have higher deductibles. The survey reported that the average deductible for individual plans is about $ 2,500. There is an annual deductible of $ 5,000 or more. The number of those with high deductibles rose from 39 percent in 2007 to 47 percent in 2009.
Health coverage being lost by millions
For the 2.9 million U.S. adults who joined the ranks of the uninsured in 2009, health care reform doesn’t do very much to help them with their current needs. According to USA Today, in 2009 — the latest statistics accessible — 46.3 million American adults had no health insurance coverage, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only 4 in 5 working adults really have coverage. The percentage of uninsured adults climbed from 19.7 percent to 21.1 percent in 2009, and 58.5 percent of American adults went without insurance for at least part of the year.
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Associated Press
google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5je_4AEzpzQnfbTmeeOg1yUO9jWRgD9GFOU080
New York Times
nytimes.com/2010/06/22/business/22kaiser.html?src=busln
USA Today
usatoday.com/news/health/2010-06-20-uninsured-reform_N.htm
