Health insurance costs becoming unsustainable

The costs of health care know no bounds. According to survey data released on Tuesday, premiums for workers are getting higher as employers cut back on coverage. 

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - In 2011, for the first time, 50 percent of workers at small firms who had individual policies were looking to pay $1,000 or more in annual deductibles. At large firms, the number has grown from 6 to 22 percent over just five years. Premiums for family plans rose 9 percent in 2011. 

The survey was done by the Kaiser Family Foundation. 

The culprit is the ever higher costs charged by insurers to employers. As employers are confronted with higher premiums, they are compelled to shift more and more of the costs to employees. 
At a time when the Main street recession looks to worsen, it appears fewer people will be able to afford their insurance.

According to Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Foundation, "Without any real national discussion or debate, there's a quiet revolution going on in what we call health insurance in this country. Health insurance is becoming less and less comprehensive....And we expect that trend to continue."

The choice, as many employers see it, is grim. Either ask the employees to pay more, or drop coverage altogether. The number of companies offering insurance is also declining.

For cash-strapped workers, the premiums have far outpaced  inflation and wages. For many, wages have remained stagnant, owing largely to the recession. And inflation, though moderate, continues. Meanwhile, from 2001 to 2011, the employee cost for insurance has gone up by an astounding 131 percent. 

Employers commonly try to move employees to plans that incur higher out-of-pocket expenses for the employee. 

The purpose of insurance has long been to protect an individual from catastrophic expense in the event of an untimely illness. Now, it seems that purpose is being diminished as insurance itself becomes less of a luxury. In fact, insurance is now considered a virtual necessity--yet it too is becoming so expensive that average working citizens are starting to regard it as a luxury. 

The national health care debate is still unresolved. As provisions of the bill are under fire in many states and candidates vow repeals, much of the law is still yet to go into effect. And yet, it becomes increasingly apparent that a national solution needs to be found, and soon, as millions of Americans go without coverage. 

Given current medical costs, to become ill while uninsured can financially ruin many patients--literally overnight. Yet many simply cannot afford the hundreds of dollars in payments required to purchase even basic coverage. When a premium is the difference between rent, food, and other necessities, and when employers must either lay off workers or switch policies, something is wrong. 

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When such people need to go to the doctor, as they inevitably do, they do not always qualify for government assistance or charity. In those cases, the bills usually go unpaid and medical institutions turn to the ones that can pay, the well off and the insured, to recover the cost.
The truth is, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Everyone is getting their healthcare paid for. What few realize is that those with insurance and those who pay taxes, are quietly paying for those without it. 

Nor will the costs come under control anytime soon. At least not as long as those paying for it become fewer in number. 

The current trajectory is painfully unsustainable. 

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