Comments about ‘Health premiums rose, but whose fault was it?’

health insurance premiums have been increasing at double-digit rates for over two decades. I've dealt with renewing my company's insurance for 20+ years. the absolute lowest increase we've had was 8%. the highest was 20%. most years, it's been in the 12-15% range. every single one of those increases has been much higher than inflation and much higher than average wage increases. so if Obama's signature health care legislation is to blame for this past years increase, what is to blame for the previous 20+ years increases? outrageous health insurance premium increases are nothing near a recent phenomenon.

The people at fault are the lawyers, the insurance companies, the government, the people in the country who don't take care of their own health.

How hard is federalized healthcare, really?

It works for Europe, it works for Canada... is the US really that different? No.

It's just that insurance companies are among the groups controlling the government.

I'd argue that some of the fault lies with the individual consumers of health care insurance. Since people can now visit a doctor for a minimum co-pay, you see people going to the doctor the moment they don't wake up happy. Overuse of the system has to be part of the cause for rising premiums.

To "merich39 | 11:02 a.m." you can thank Government Mandates for a lot of that increase over the years.

In the early 1980's there were 400 mandates put on insurance companies. Now there are over 2200 mandates. While each mandate does not cost much, due to the volume of mandates it does cost a lot.

For example, a few years ago Utah wanted to add treatments for Autism to insurance mandates. This would have cost $50/yr per policy. While that doesn't sound like much, it adds up quickly. Imagine if you add 1800 mandates that each cost $3/yr. That would increase your premiums by $5400/yr.

DeltaFoxtrot, you are so correct. The reason it won't work here is "greed". I can't even qualify for insurance. I am not a sick person but I am labeled with fibromyalgia,Not having symptoms any longer I still can not be insured.....but the one company that said they would consider wants me to pay $880 a month. I see the Dr every 6 months to have my 2 prescriptions filled.
This is not an even playing board. So please ppl stop blaming all of us that have no insurance. I am retired and stuck between ages of privet ins. and Medicare...I have neither and there are so many of us in the same boat.

It's all those people who go to the Dr.'s once a week for a fix.

In our recent health insurance renewal meeting we were told by our broker that the "Obama Care" Costs accounted for less than 2% of the 11% increase we had. I agree with all the comments we have had double digit increases for the last twenty years, what is the cause for that?

One small area that has been neglected by both the author and the people who commented.

It would be interesting to see what IHC's advertising budget is for the last three years. The hospitals seem to be in an advertising blitz against each other.

Also I am really tired of seeing the Medicare supplemental Insurance plans on TV on bill boards and in my mail box.

All this advertisment is not free and is figured into the cost of doing business.

Delta Foxtrot,

I think most Europeans would scoff at the idea that they're not really that different from Americans in terms of health. Look at obesity rates in America vs. Europe. Guess where a huge chunk (no pun intended) of health care costs come from?

A lot of our health care costs are from skinny people. Skinny people that live to be 103.

That's who I see at the Dr's office in huge numbers. Skinny old people making lots of visits, taking lots of pills and getting new hips installed. They have a right to live though so I'm not saying they shouldn't, just recognize the true cost of living so long.

And Dr's please, you want to blame it all on lawyers? Stop making so many dumb mistakes and you won't get sued so much. And your well above average lavish lifestyles don't burden the health care system? huuh!

We husky guys overwhlminly die of our first or second heart attack in our 50's and never collect SS , medicare or health insurance costs for 30 or 40 years of retirement. Your welcome.

Let me respond to a couple of comments here:

"It's all those people who go to the Dr.'s once a week for a fix."
Americans on average go to the doctor far less than people in other countries who spend far less on health care.

"Look at obesity rates in America vs. Europe."
The COngressional Budget Office put out a report that dealt with this argument.

"Even if there is no growth in the prevalence of obesity between now and 2020 per capita spending on health care for adults would rise by 65 percentfrom $4,550 in 2007 to $7,500 in 2020 . . . largely as a result of the continuation of underlying trends in health care that have led to rapidly increasing spending for all adults regardless of weight.

'"How much the new federal health care law pushed by President Obama is affecting insurance rates remains a point of debate...' - Article

So, we're not sure.

Even the title in this story, is a question.

I agree with merich39 | 11:02 a.m. Oct. 12, 2011. Healthcare cost's have been going up for a long time now.

As exampled by:


'Only in America: Bankruptcy Due to Health Care Costs' - James E. Dalen, MD, MPH - 08/04/09

'The article by Himmelstein in this issue of the The American Journal of Medicine documents that health care expenses were the most common cause of bankruptcy in the United States in 2007, accounting for 62% of US bankruptcies compared with 8% in 1981.'

- American journal of medicine.

So, to attempt to tie in Healthcare reform or 'Obama care' 27 years AFTER healthcare rates were increasing in 1981 supports that Obamacare is...

not...

the reason healthcare cost's are rising.

From experiencing the difficulties and the amount and time spent on trying to work through all the myriad complex private market health plans, claims, and benefits, the money being spent on insurer claims, health care represntatives who and employees of companies who must negotiate with health insurance companies seems to have created its own mega-million dollar industry of non-productive service industry that really doesn't provide any tangible goods for the public. Republicans who believe in simplifying regulations and tax laws and stifling bureaucracy would do well to simplify the private sector and perhaps try to create a few mega-health care insurance programs with government oversight like a public service commission. There's too much private sector complexity without sufficient government oversight to control needless waste and cost to the public.

This post is just to make sure my previous one gets posted.

The best way to reduce the cost of health care is to get rid of the parasites that exist between the Doctor and the Patient - the Insurance Company.

They raised their rates, like they have every single year for years now - they just made a bigger increase and used the Affordable Care act as an excuse.