If you’ve had to apply for individual health insurance lately, something that you’re going to almost always notice is that the costs have gone up significantly. Prices that people used to find were much more affordable in the $15 to $30 a week territory for covering their entire family, have risen dramatically, and in the time span of only a few years. Perhaps more troubling still is that the latest statistics do not suggest this trend will diminish, but rather continue and even persevere well into territory that we’ve never seen before.
This is due to several reasons really, and they all contribute to costs going through the roof. If you’re thinking of blaming the insurance companies, they are actually only a very small part of the greater problem. In fact, here are 5 of the top reasons that the cost of health insurance has risen so much, and has shown no signs of stopping anytime soon:
1) More and more care is being administered.
While this doesn’t sound like a bad thing when you say it like that, it actually is for a few reasons. Namely, this can be a negative thing because doctors are ordering more and more tests, especially those that could be deemed unnecessary, so that they can bill insurance companies for more work. The more work that’s performed, the more that the insurance company has to pay, and the more that they are liable for, bringing the cost right to you.
2) More lawsuits are being filed everyday against both insurance, and medical practitioners.
Lawsuits have gone a bit mad lately, with just about everybody trying to sue everybody else for various reasons. Malpractice suits are coming out all the time, as well as suits against insurance companies not filing claims. The more and more that this happens, the more that it’s going to drive up costs in order to pay for the court battles.
3) Out of pocket cost.
This is another area where the cost of individual health insurance has really risen, as even with the good plans there’s a lot insurance just won’t cover, as well as co-pays that see you paying the majority of many bills. Sometimes that’s really hard to deal with, and can have you feeling almost as though you don’t have insurance at times, even though they are pulling some of the cost.
4) Prescription drug costs have also skyrocketed.
This is another thing that’s really driven up the cost of insurance prices, and is something that many plans won’t even cover as a result. Because there is more and more name brand medication, and they all compete through TV ads to try and get more and more consumers to try out their medical solutions, you’re going to find that as a direct result the costs go up. That cost is put right on you the consumer, and you’ll find that insurance isn’t going to cover more drugs than they ever had avoided covering before.
5) With many plans these days, you’re also paying for things that you don’t need.
With almost all types of health insurance premiums, you’ve got the cost of everything you could ever use built in. Part of the problem there is that there are a lot of medical tests and other such procedures that you would never have performed that you still have to pay as a result of the possibility that you could have them done. For example, pregnant women under most plans are allowed around 2 ultrasounds.
But for the normal pregnancy an ultrasound actually is never needed to check the health of the baby at all. But because so many people access this with their plans, you’re paying more for the risk you’ll have one performed, and the cost of the insurance company paying for the evaluation.
Of course, there’s not a whole lot that you can do about most of this, in terms of the cost of health insurance you’re going to face. But there are options for those who can’t afford their own care. Many states are stepping up what’s provided to those that don’t make that much money, so that they can ensure they’re able to provide the best possible care without bankrupting people just to save their own lives.