Health insurance premiums for individuals who purchase coverage by themselves are soaring, according to a study released Monday. When lawmakers debated the health care reform bill, health insurance companies were trying with many effort 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 conserve money by settling for fewer benefits and higher deductibles. Meanwhile, steadily rising 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 people in 2009.
Health insurance and cost trends
. It was reported by the Associated Press 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 entirely tops last year’s 5 percent average increase for employer-sponsored family coverage. Health insurance cost trends for employer-sponsored single coverage held steady.
Health insurance for individuals is expensive
The cost of health insurance for individuals made news earlier this year when Anthem Blue Cross tried to raise its rates by 39 percent in California. As outlined by the New York Times, the Kaiser study sheds light on how widespread these premium hikes are. It was reported by the New York Times reports that when the proposed Anthem hikes were met with outrage from federal and state officials, there was little details about how widespread such increases were in other parts of the country. The Kaiser foundation’s president and chief executive, Drew Altman, told the Times that “The survey shows the steep increases we are reading about over the last several months aren’t just extreme cases.”
Health care reform has a long wait
The Kaiser survey highlights the challenges that about 14 million people who are younger than 65 and purchase their coverage within the individual market will face until changes under the health care reform law kick in 2014. By then, all of the Americans will have to have health insurance. 52 percent of respondents in the Kaiser survey who purchase individual health coverage said they would keep their current plan next year, while 32 percent said they were not sure. To cut costs, another 14 percent said they would switch companies.
Health care insurance programs have high deductibles
To save money, individuals are switching their individual health insurance plans to higher deductibles. The survey reported the average deductible for individual plans is about $ 2,500. One out of every four individuals surveyed said there was an annual deductible of $ 5,000 or more. The number of those who have high deductibles has risen from 39 percent in 2007 to almost 47 percent in 2009.
Millions losing health insurance protection
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, as outlined by a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One in five working adults don’t have insurance. The percentage of uninsured adults of working age 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
