Why Did Kaiser Raise Their Rates Again

Although the increase in health insurance rates dropped in the past year, rates have gone up faster than inflation every twelvemonth for the past decade. Russell Underwood/Corbis hide caption

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Russell Underwood/Corbis

Although the increase in health insurance rates dropped in the past yr, rates have gone up faster than inflation every twelvemonth for the past decade.

Russell Underwood/Corbis

A new survey shows that an increase in health insurance rates this year is less than the increase last year. Just, that's not necessarily skillful news to the employers or employees who pay the premiums.

Every year, the Kaiser Family Foundation asks 2,000 minor, medium and big businesses what they're doing about health insurance and how much they're paying.

This year, businesses reported facing a 6 pct increase in health insurance premiums. That's lower than last year'south 8 per centum increase and much lower than the 14 percent increase in 2003.

But that hides another key number: Health insurance rates have gone up faster than inflation every year for the past decade. And the cumulative issue hurts, says Kaiser's Drew Altman.

"Nobody is celebrating, and a moderating rate of increase doesn't feel like moderation to employers or working people," Altman says. "All they know is that it's going upward this year again and information technology's going up more than anything else effectually."

Information technology'due south going upwards much more than than wages and much more than than the costs of appurtenances and services.

Nevertheless, the percentage of small- and medium-sized firms offering some type of wellness insurance held steady from terminal year to this twelvemonth at about lx percent, and virtually all large firms continue to offer insurance to their employees.

The survey shows no big increase in the number of workers enrolling in the new high-deductible wellness plans, but it does testify that in the past couple of years, some companies are moving to college premiums for higher-wage employees. Altman says it'south a scramble.

"Employers are trying to do everything they can but they take no single, magic solution, then they're trying lots of things," Altman says.

At Schoonover Plumbing and Heating in the little town of Canton, Pa., Lavonna Clark is the part manager.

"Health insurance is our major do good — our major describe for good employees," Clark says.

The company was one of those included in the survey. Clark has been at Schoonover for 29 years, but for the last v years, she has been struggling to proceed health insurance costs manageable.

Clark says that every year, the rates increased to the indicate that she couldn't afford a major insurance visitor, she would search the Net for one that was comparable; one that she felt Schoonover could afford and wouldn't toll the employees many of their benefits.

She has been going for policies that have higher deductibles for infirmary costs and testing.

"Four years ago it was $250, then nosotros went to $500, now we're at $ane,000," Clark says. "Side by side bound, $ane,500."

Even experts in wellness insurance are getting hit and take to exist artistic.

"This year nosotros got hit by a 33 pct increase past 1 of our two major insurers," says Altman of the Kaiser Family unit Foundation. "We had no recourse and then we switched plans and got a meliorate charge per unit."

But Clark says that in her experience, switching simply works for a twelvemonth or so, then the new insurer eventually increases the rate. She expects she'll be busy once more next year trying to maintain the condition quo.

"I'll just accept to shop around again and we'll have to modify, and in that location's a lot of paperwork to go through," she says. "Just it's such a little company, we tin't survive if we don't go along the costs down, and so I'll be back looking on the Net."

In the survey, employers said they are very, or somewhat probable to increment what employees pay for their health insurance and prescription drugs. But they accept said that fifty-fifty in years that they oasis't made major changes.

Altman suspects that what will really happen is that businesses will play a more active role this year in making sure health intendance reform is an issue in land and national elections.

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Source: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14324358

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