High Deductibles
The authors do mention high deductible health insurance policies. They fail to account for the psychological aspect of paying out roughly $5,000.00 a year and still having to no coverage until hitting an additional $5,000.00 in medical expenses! To pay for the policy and squirrel away another $5,000.00 for actual medical expenses (over $10,000.00 a year) is just not possible for most workers. I had such a policy and felt like I was throwing away my money. I thought of all the practical uses I had for that money, including retirement. At the same time, I wondered how much of my hard earned money went toward some executive's multi-million dollar salary. These are tough issues yet to be worked out on health insurance. They aren't really discussed in the book.
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Comment by G Paul Adams on July 14, 2011 at 8:01pm -
And we have been clamoring for something better. While I originally didn't support the federal health care program, closer examination revealed a great many benefits for consumers. Also, Vermont recently passed single payer. Connecticut I've mentioned. Of course, we hear a lot about the Massachusetts plan. While no program may have everything we want, it's clear that government is working on the problem.
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Comment by Jason Hwang on July 5, 2011 at 1:12pm -
In this era of cost-shifting by employers and insurance companies, I think a lot of consumers have experienced sticker-shock. As we mention in the book, the primary solution has to be about making the delivery system more affordable. Simply creating a new payment vehicle like health savings accounts only deals with the other side of the coin. However, we also need to educate consumers about the hidden costs of the current system. Latest estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm) pin health benefit costs at 7.5% to 11.7% of total wages/salaries. Kaiser Family Foundation estimates the costs even higher at 8.1% to 18.8% of total payroll (http://www.kff.org/insurance/snapshot/Employer-Health-Insurance-Cos...). These benefits costs, which have risen FAR faster than wages, are basically lost income for workers. In your situation, you could actually see the $10,000 leaving your pocket to pay for health care; for most people, this cost is hidden in the form of lost potential income. My point is that in either case, you are the one paying for health care, and feeling that "psychological aspect of paying out" tremendous amounts for it ought to have you and everyone else clamoring for something better.
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