A Prayer 4 Spiraling Health Insurance Costs

Lost in the many national & global crises is the biggest hike in health insurance costs for a family … as in $24K per year … just to maybe cough while getting your heart listened to. And next year is looking just as bad.

According to the WSJ citing a KFF annual survey, “The cost of employer health insurance rose this year at the fastest clip since 2011. The 7% jump in the cost of a family plan brought the average tab … to more than the price for some small cars. Workers’ average payment of $6,575 for those plans was nearly $500 more than last year.” While inflation has been a nation-wide problem, “It hit health coverage this year because hospitals … renegotiate fees with insurers only every few years, so the increases they sought to cover their own costs are now affecting premiums.” And, employers & workers alike may see another round of boosts in 2024 for roughly the same reasons., the WSJ sources say.

But, isn’t this a tale of the same old, same old that’s getting old? Not just for health insurance costs tied to hospitalization, but pharmaceuticals, too? Wasn’t Obamacare supposed to be the path of fiscal sanity if not cure for such spiraling health costs? Still more government control (and rationing), President Biden suggests, is the antidote? At what point do folks just throw in the towel & pray instead of pay?

Davd Soul