The Insurance You Have… Sucks

Posted on 09/16/2009 at 12:36 pm by Bob Cesca

Ezra reports the results of a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation:

The average cost of a family health insurance policy in 2009 was $13,375.

Over the past ten years, premiums have increased by 131 percent, while wages have grown 38 percent and inflation has grown 28 percent.

If health-care costs grow as fast as they have over the past five years, the average premium for a family policy in 2019 will be $24,180. If they grow as fast as they have over the past 10 years, premiums in 2019 will average $30,803.

$13,375. And it’s important to note that $4012 of that sum went to health insurance company overhead and profits. In other words, we pay a 30 percent private tax right off the top every year that doesn’t even go towards our medical care — $4012 of your money every year. A barf-inducing $9200/year ten years from now.

Your health insurance sucks. Why would any sane person want to keep it? Why aren’t people rioting in the streets demanding reform and unrestricted access to a public option?

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  • indyinwc

    why no rioting? Because most that have insurance get it from their employer, who has a big group and probably pays less then 13,000, and those who have to pay a part of the premium pay very little. Why more business groups are not up in arms, I don’t know. Many who pay for their own insurance are self-employed, but being so, are wary of any government regulation or involvement. I know, I’m self employed and cannot afford insurance, but when I ask other biz owners, they’re against any form of gov’t sponsord or regulated health care. I don’t get it.

  • http://tarackian.deviantart.com J M Ashby

    If premiums reach those levels, what you will see is 30-50% of the country uninsured.

  • indyinwc

    I would add to the cost of a monthly premium the out of pocket and deductable payments when you actually need care. That’s a few thousand more.

  • iLLogicaL

    You have me well confused Bob. The other day you were taking Lee Stranahan to task when he noted that, according to the president’s speech, only people without insurance would be eligible for the public option. Your response was basically ‘duh’ mixed with a bit of ‘go read the bill’.It seemed like you were saying we’d be asses to insist on a public option for everyone, and that we should be content to get anything we can for now.So now you ask why we aren’t rioting for unrestricted access to the public option?Where’s the riot? I’ll be there.

  • http://www.bobcesca.com Bob_Cesca

    @iLLogical:I support single-payer — Medicare for all. But I believe the most realistic path to achieving this is through the public option. Didn’t I make that clear? I thought I did. In fact, this has been my position all along.

  • Allonfla

    Recall the poll that found people actually believed that they could pay their health care bills out of pocket. Recall another article explaining that people only THINK their health insurance policy is good, until they actually have a serious illness and have to actually deal with the company.

  • iLLogicaL

    Bob, cheers for the reply, but the distinction I’m making, and that I think Lee was making, was between a public option available to everyone, and a public option only for those who don’t already have profit-based health insurance.Here’s your (second) comment from the thread I refer to, with you quoting Lee and then replying:>>>If I have insurance and but think the Public Option is better, I can’t switch to it?If you’re buying insurance as an individual. Yes. You can cancel your policy and sign up for the public option. But not if you’re an employee getting insurance through your job. Then again, employees can’t choose their policy anyway.All of this information is readily available and searchable on the internet, Lee.————————————So there it sounds like you’re A) giving Lee shit for posing a legitimate question B) not really sticking up for anything similar to Medicare for all, or even ‘unrestricted access to a public option’, as you call for here.As long as there’s a provision like Obama alluded to in his speech (i.e., public option is only for those without regular insurance), it’s more like Medicaid for all…you can only get it as long as it’s your only option.So, I see that as a big difference, and hope you do to. I don’t want to have to quit my job or get fired to be able to choose health insurance that isn’t based on maximizing a company’s profits.Thanks again for what you do, and sorry for splitting hairs, but I was really heartbroken when I heard Obama add that qualifier, and all the more so when I heard one of my favorite people (i.e., you) talking like it didn’t matter. It’s a BIG deal.

  • http://www.bobcesca.com Bob_Cesca

    @iLLogical:In my reply to Lee, I wasn’t implying anything about my position. I was just explaining to him what the plan involved. And I was being an asshole about it because I felt as though Lee, as a leading healthcare blogger, should be informing and educating people, not the other way around.

  • J

    @Allonfla: Seriously. All these bunk about health savings accounts, as if people COULD afford to pay for their health care out of pocket, they’re just choosing not to.As far as the medicare for all, I thought the important thing to take from Obama’s speech was the line about building on what works. Once we have a public option, adminstered well to a group of people who right now have even less than the shit that those of us who are employed have, then we can build upon that to extend it to more people.

  • ceu

    and if you make $10/hr & your employer isn’t paying for health insurance for you (probably)and you’re average, then 64% of your gross income goes to premiums; almost 20% of your gross income goes into someone else’s pocket for the service of handing your money to a doctor, etc.So how many people can live on under $15K annually (taking into account FICA) to pay for housing, utilities, heating oil, food, car repairs, gasoline, co-pays & deductibles, etc?These are the people that the wingnuts insist should take responsibility for themselves rather than getting some sort of help from the gov’t.

  • beautykilledbeast

    Bob, there is a tale to be told there in your closing question. “Why aren’t people rioting in the streets demanding reform and unrestricted access to a public option?” I think you should spend time each day about why we’re getting beat on the street with this issue.FZ