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Originally Posted by eleven24
One thing I know is that every year since 2000 the healthcare costs for my company have increased, on average, 15-20% per year. I just got my renewal rates about an hour ago & am trying to figure out how to tell my employees that I can no longer cover 100% of the coverage for them & their families. Another 18% increase.  |
Healthcare costs are ridiculous. The whole system in our country for healthcare is conducive to having the best care available, but for the highest price of anywhere in the world. I have good health insurance through my company. I still have to pay like $1,500 per year for health insurance I never use, and according to what my company tells us they actually pay the majority of the cost of our health care.
I think that a big contributor to the problem is the way our health insurance system works in this country. If the government made it easier for people to purchase health insurance individually, and made it easier to use health spending accounts, the cost of health care would come down. The way it is now, people with health insurance have no incentive not to go to the doctor for every single problem they have. If you created a system where health insurance was only designed to cover major health problems, and people used their own money to pay for regular healthcare, there would be much more of a motive for health care providers to compete on cost.
Another problem is that it is tax deductible for a company to provide health insurance to its employees, but it isn't tax deductible for an individual to purchase health insurance for themself. That system makes it nearly impossible for individuals to purchase affordable health care. If the tax code was reformed so that there was no tax incentive either way, then health insurance costs would be more even. Removing these tax incentives was actually a part of Hillary Clinton's health care proposals back in the 90's when Bill Clinton was President.