Health insurance costs are on the rise again, and businesses in California will be turning to high deductible medical insurance plans in an effort to stem the cost of group plans. Many of the largest health care providers in California, such as Anthem, will be raising their rates by an average of 8 to 14 percent for thousands of policy holders with individual coverage. This is causing companies who are required to offer benefits to their workers to only give the options for high-deductible plans, in an effort to shield themselves from higher costs.
These hikes in medical premiums will surpass the national average cost of health care by 3.5%. As an individual who pays over $100 for the bare essentials of medical care per month, the thought that costs will be raising again this year is frightening. Imagine if the prices for groceries were to rise as fast as those of medical insurance.
To give you an example, my medical insurance (with a provider I will not name), went from $113 to $132 from the 2010 to 2011 fiscal year. That’s a raise of $19. Imagine going to the grocery store one day, and spending $75 in groceries, then going back the next week, only to find out that the same exact order costs 14.5 percent more (the percentage the unnamed company raised the premium rate). That same order, just one week later, would cost a little bit over $85.
Do you think that what the health insurance providers are doing is right? Are they really considering their customers when they hike their rates up so much, causing both businesses and individuals to pay the price? Or is there more to the story than this?
Businesses Turn to High Deductible Medical Insurance is a post from: The Inquisitr