The great American rip off

[MrPots]

MILWAUKEE — The average total cost of health care for the typical family of four will top $25,000 this year.

That projection — from the annual Milliman Medical Index — includes the average cost of health insurance paid by employers and employees, as well as deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses for the most common type of health plan.

The total cost — $25,826 this year — may prompt disbelief. But few people realize what their employer spends to provide health benefits or the potential cost of deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses if someone in a family has a serious illness or even a series of relatively minor mishaps.

"A lot of people are sheltered from the true cost of health care, despite the fact that they are paying more than in the past," said Scott Weltz, a principal and consulting actuary who works out of Milliman's office in Brookfield, Wis.

Study: Costs for most long-term care keep climbing

They are paying much more: The Milliman Medical Index has more than tripled since its first year in 2001.

The index is no more than a gauge, and actual costs vary. Most people, for instance, are fortunate enough not to have high out-of-pocket costs in a given year.

But it makes clear the total cost of health care spending for the typical family.

"It is shocking — it's heart-stopping," said Paul Hughes-Cromwick, co-director of the Center for Sustainable Health Spending at Altarum Institute, a non-profit research and consulting organization in Ann Arbor, Mich.
That's especially true when compared with the median U.S. income of $83,414 for a family of four in 2014.

The Milliman Medical Index tracks only people who get health insurance through an employer. Total health care spending is even higher, largely because it includes people over 65, who have higher health care expenses.

With those costs included, the United States spent an average of $9,523 per person on health care in 2014, according to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That works out to an average of $38,092 for a family of four — and spending was projected to increase 4.9% a year through 2024.

The largest share of health care costs is borne in the form of lower wages and taxes.

An employee's total compensation includes what his or her employer spends on health insurance — and that accounts for an increasing share of total compensation.

One of the reasons that workers have seen smaller raises for more than a decade is the increase in the cost of health benefits.

The Milliman Medical Index estimates that employers will spend an average of $14,793 this year to provide health benefits for a family of four. Few people, though, are aware of the magnitude of their employer's contribution.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...osts/85016358/



This is where Obama failed. He did nothing to reign in the rip off that is the insurance industry. Note that these are't really heath care costs, they are insurance costs.

I'm pretty lucky I guess. My insurance costs me $7,000 per year. (I quit a $14,000 per year policy I could not afford any more.) For that I get ONE paid well visit a year. After that I have $10,000 out of pocket before they pick up. So out of that $7,000 the insurance company pays about $1,000 in bills, I pay about $1500 out of pocket, and the insurance company pockets the rest. So 85% of my medical costs go to the insurance company. The big scam? I've been paying these insurance costs for decades. The insurance companies have pocketed well over $150,000 in premiums from me while paying maybe $15,000 in claims. And guess what? By the time I really need the coverage I will be on medicare, on the taxpayers dime. The insurance companies will walk away with the equivalent of my retirement savings, and those of millions of other americans. Take this times the millions of people using it and we can see where a major portion of Americas wealth is going. Taxes? Taxes are a pittance compared to this.

This is Obamas' biggest failure and why I think he's a fraud. He became a lacky for the insurance industry and proof that the democrats are just as bad as the republicans.....just without the racism. I'd wager he's got a cush job waiting for him i the insurance industry.