Another Increase In Health Premiums

The health industry’s main lobbying group, America’s Health
Insurance Plans, reports that medical premiums increased 88%
between 2004 and 2005 The lobbying group claims this is good
news since the actual premium rate of growth has continued to
slow from a rate of more than 13% in 2002 The increase in
health premiums is reportedly most likely due to the increased
use of doctor and hospital services
The accounting firm, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, reports that just
14% of the increase had to do with administration or marketing
costs or higher insurance profits According to the Kaiser
Family Foundation, an average health care plan obtained through
an employer in 2005 approached $11,000 The average annual cost
for the worker was approximately $3,500 plus deductibles and
co-pays
Employers are currently shifting more and more of the health
care costs to their employees Studies show that employers
decreased health care spending by 13%, while employees
increased spending by 55% “What we’re aware of is that health
care costs,” says Judy Feder, PhD, dean of the Public Policy
Institute at Georgetown University, “even when they slow down,
are still outpacing peoples’ income and ability to pay”
The trend of increasing costs of health care does not seem to be
slowing down With baby boomers now into their sixties, these
costs will certainly continue to rise Health care costs are
taking a larger chunk out of everyone’s budget
Prescription drugs price increases are outpacing the growing
medical premiums by almost two-fold Controlling drug costs is
one of the simplest ways to lower overall health care spending
Using generics as often as possible, utilizing less expensive
over the counter medication, and shopping around for lower
prices are three quick and easy ways to lower these costs Even
small savings, done over and over, will soon add up to a
significant reduction in your expenses at the pharmacy
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