Connect with us

Law

Paying More For The Same Flawed Healthcare Insurance

Paying More For The Same Flawed Healthcare Insurance

Chances are, you are paying more for your health insurance this year than last year. You may well wonder, why is insurance so expensive? The size and complexity of the U.S. healthcare delivery system is an important part of the problem.

Problems with Healthcare in the US

The Covid-19 pandemic has made yet more obvious the many problems with healthcare delivery in the United States. There is very little central coordination of information about patients. Different providers – we have thousands of them – can have trouble making sure they are dealing with the same patient, much less coordinating care for them.

Health Insurance is Very Expensive in 2021. Why?

The U.S. system, if it even is a system, is hugely complex and fragmented. We pay more for healthcare than most developed nations and get inferior care for the money we spend. Life expectancy is lower in the U.S. than in most comparable countries, as one example. The relationship between healthcare cost and quality is badly out of whack in the United States.

People in the United States are “free” to choose the health insurer they want, but each insurance company has its own rules for enrollment periods, coverage, and methods of reimbursement. Providers have to spend money on salaries for staff who deal with insurance companies. Some doctors have started choosing not to accept insurance at all and charge far less for their services because they can reduce their overhead costs significantly.

Health insurance companies are corporations, so they exist primarily to return profits to owners and pay very high salaries to upper management. That means that some of what you pay in premiums pays for high salaries and profits instead of healthcare. Any system will require management, but private companies pay much higher salaries. How big is the healthcare insurance industry in the United States is a large part of the problem.

So the problems are:

Highly complex, fragmented system.

Hundreds of individual health insurance companies.

Health insurance premiums pay profits and large salaries for corporate managers.

Insurance Costs for Families only Get Higher

In the near term, insurance costs will likely only increase. Some members of Congress are working on ideas to try to reduce costs and insure more people. Insurance depends on “risk pools,” or group of people who pay into the system, then have their covered claims paid. The larger the risk pool, the easier it is to predict what costs will be and the more people pay into the system, creating a larger pool of funds for paying claims. It is not at all clear why we divide the United States into risk pools according to their employers, which is mostly irrelevant to the question of health insurance. To the extent that some occupations have higher rates of injury or illness, it makes more sense to include them in a larger pool to distribute their elevated risk more evenly.

What is the Impact of COVID-19?

One major impact of COVID-19 has been to increase the use of telehealth, which allows for virtual visits without exposing anyone to the virus and is much easier for people who have transportation limitations. This, in turn, is encouraging more use of electronic payment systems and health records, which should improve the efficiency of the entire system.

We don’t know yet, but COVID-19 may be helping create, unintentionally and higgledy-piggledy, a lot of the infrastructure we would need to provide adequate healthcare to everyone in the country. We have rapidly built the capacity to vaccinate everyone, or we will have by the time we actually do vaccinate everyone. The spread of a highly communicable, new virus also helps make the conceptual point that all health is public health. Every individual’s health can impact every other individual’s health.

How Can You Make Sure You Are Not Paying more than You Should be for Health Insurance?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), which a lot people call “Obamacare,” offers subsidies to many families to pay for health insurance. It also provides for advisors to help people understand their options. It helped avoid a health insurance collapse.  Another option is to choose a plan with a high deductible and a Healthcare Savings Account (HSA). An HSA is a bank account that you can put pretax income into and use only for medical expenses.

Be aware, however, that a high deductible plan assumes that you will pay for all of your healthcare out of pocket before you hit your deductible. If you anticipate having medical expenses that will exceed your current income, a high deductible plan is not a good idea.

What Can I Do To Lower My Health Insurance Costs?

One easy way is to use a Health Maintenance Organization, or HMO. In an HMO, you use only doctors that are part of the plan, except in emergencies, and accept other limitations on your choices in order to allow the insurer to negotiate better prices with providers. High deductible insurance plans usually have lower premiums, so that is another option, if you can make it work.

Why you need health care can make a difference. If you have been injured in an accident, you may need to talk to a personal accident attorney like mosheslaw.com. By making the right choice, you will save your money.

Paying More For The Same Flawed Healthcare Insurance

What Paying For Healthcare Will Look Like in the Future

Patients bear a growing burden of the cost of healthcare, and transparency in cost and pricing is a major issue. Most people want to know better what healthcare is going to cost before agreeing to visits and procedures. They want to know the true cost of healthcare. Providers also want to get paid faster. Healthcare organizations will follow the financial services industry to more electronic transactions to improve in these areas.

Conclusion

The U.S. system for healthcare delivery and insurance is barely a system at all. It is highly fragmented with thousands of providers operating in their own silos and only rudimentary mechanisms to communicate with each other. The result is very expensive health insurance and worse medical outcomes than most comparable countries.

Options for families and individuals who want to reduce their costs are few, and amount mostly to relying on insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act and the subsidies it provides for anyone who does not get health insurance through their employer.

Continue Reading

Recent Posts

Home Improvement5 days ago

What Does an Effective Wardrobe Spring Clean Entail?

Spring is upon us which means one thing and one thing only. It is time for the annual purge of...

Business2 months ago

Your Basic Guide To Creating A Unique Investment Blog

Starting your own blog is great and once you get the ball rolling, it can be a good passive income...

Business2 months ago

3 Low-Risk Ways To Get Your New Business Started

Once you’ve got an initial business idea and believe that it will be a success, there are some basic things...

Lifestyle2 months ago

Conquering the Co-free Zone: Tips for Thriving as a Remote Worker

Adjusting to an office environment can come with its downfalls in the sense that it might be a shock to...

General3 months ago

3 Ways To Take Control Of Your Finances Starting Now

If your finances have taken over and are bringing stress to your life, we understand just how overwhelming it can...

Travel5 months ago

Best Places To Visit In The North Of England

If you live in England, you will know there are many different places to visit for the weekend. There are...

General5 months ago

Green Home Improvement Ideas

In a world where environmental concerns are growing, the concept of “green” has gone beyond a trendy catchphrase and is...

Lifestyle5 months ago

How to Host an Unforgettable House-Warming!

The time has finally come. You have moved into your dream pad, and are officially adulting in your very own...

Autos5 months ago

A Guide to Parking Lot Striping

The journey to a well-striped parking lot begins with the right paint. In this brief guide, we’ll unravel the mystery...

Business8 months ago

Business Tips For Protecting Your Finances During A Recession

In 2023, taking the necessary steps to protect your finances for your business is now more important than ever. The...

Lifestyle8 months ago

Tips For Cleaning Your Trainers

If you’re into your trainers and streetwear, you’re likely to be very conscious of keeping them looking their best! So,...

Marketing9 months ago

Branding Trends For Start-Ups in 2023

Branding is incredibly important as it impacts how your business reaches and connects with its target market. If you’re branding...

Business9 months ago

Avoiding the Wrong Kind of Growth

Growth is vital for any business – some models, like tech start-ups, are built around periods of dramatic, explosive growth...

Business9 months ago

How To Become A Property Developer

There are several reasons why an individual will want to become a property developer. One of the main reasons for...

Tech12 months ago

What Is The Difference Between Cyber Attacks and Cyber Threats?

If you own a business that uses the cloud to manage workloads, you have probably heard of the terms cyberattack...

Categories

Archives

Trending