Rising health insurance costs Rx

The rising cost of buying coverage for Health insurance is partly due to prescriptions, our growing population of older consumers, cost shifting (the practice of charging more from some buyers to give discounts to larger buyers like medicare), and the trend toward ‘buffet medicine’ where the consumer pays a copay and all services are included.

If you subscribe to a ‘buffet medicine’ plan you pay a higher monthly cost, say $800 per month for a family, that is over $9000 per year, while a lower cost plan, like the Health Net Saver would run the same family less than $3000 per year.

Sure, you could have a train wreck where your entire family is hospitalized at one time, and the deductible and co insurance would be expensive, up to the maximum out of pocket which at the time of this writing is $8000 per family if you use network doctors.

But compare the annual cost, at $9000 per year you are paying for a train wreck every year whether you have one or not!

Over 10 years you will spend $90,000 on that buffet medicine plan, and you won’t get a penny of it back for staying healthy, eating your vegetables, and wearing your seatbelt!

We are not recommending that you buy a High Deductible Health Plan no matter what your situation, we are saying that in the current environment you should find information on all options and research where all your money is going.