The Spark Newspaper articlesHealth insurance costs up; coverage down
The Kaiser Family Foundation just released its annual report on health insurance. The cost of workplace health insurance policies went up almost 13 per cent last year – the biggest one-year increase since 1990. Prescription drug insurance costs went up even faster – 14 to 19 per cent last year. And even bigger health and drug insurance cost increases are predicted for this year and the future.
While overall costs are skyrocketing, the part of the cost paid by employees has been rising still faster. Employees paid 16 per cent more for family coverage, or 27 per cent more for single workers.
And the deductibles on PPO plans, the most popular type of workplace health insurance, went up by 37 per cent last year.
Where is all this money going? To the profits of the insurance companies themselves for one. And to the profits of the drug companies for another. The health of their balance sheets couldn't be better.