According to a survey of employers reported by NPR, the average US health insurance premium for a family of four is $28,000 a year. That’s just jaw-dropping and it’s not even counting deductibles or related costs. Workers cover about $7,000 of that. It’s expensive to get care, even when you have insurance and even when you use the healthcare marketplace (AKA Obamacare). Medical debt is the main cause of US bankruptcies. Even with insurance, so many Americans have to choose between getting treatment and affording basic necessities. Here’s more:
Health care costs are rising fast in the U.S., and even workers with solid health care benefits through work are feeling it, according to an annual survey of nearly 2,000 employers about their health benefits. The report was published Thursday by KFF, a nonpartisan health research organization.
“The average health insurance premium for a family of four is now $28,000, which is just a ton of money,” says Matthew Rae, associate director for the Health Care Marketplace Program at KFF. “It’s basically the cost of a new car every year just to keep a family of four insured.” Of that total for family premiums, workers pay about $7,000 per year on average and employers pay the rest.
A glimmer of positivity is that the costs for plans isn’t growing as fast as it has in years past, he explains. “We’re seeing a 5% increase in family health insurance premiums, which continues a period of modest growth,” he says. That increase is roughly on par with worker wages and inflation.
There’s a related story at NPR about how one out of four people has stayed in a job just for healthcare. Of course they have. I get health insurance through the marketplace for my son and me. I don’t want to admit what I pay a month, but it’s my second biggest expense behind housing. I’ve lived in Germany, where healthcare is non-profit. At the very least, we should have a similar system where no one is making money from treating sick people. Healthcare is a basic human right and it’s unconscionable that companies at any level of that supply chain are making a profit from it. Millions of people have died in the US from this corrupt and despicable system.
I cover these stories to help non-Americans understand what we’re dealing with, and to encourage people in the US to vote. Make sure you get out and vote in the midterms and that you vote for Democrats. I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but it’s important.
Photos Credit: Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.
People stay in jobs, which limits economic mobility. Employers limit hours given so they can avoid providing this “benefit.” But there’s another social harm: women staying in abusive marriages so they can keep insurance for themselves and their kids. It’s brutal.
Universal healthcare, dammit!
I have the kind of job that traditionally provided very good health care for a minimal fee on my end. however in recent years that has gone up to the point where it is now a significant expense if I dont use it and practically usury if I do use it.
one thing new for next year is that in the in network providers, there is a top tier of in net work providers so things are only free if you use them. but there are none near me ( I live in a major metro area) and if I wanted to travel to them, they arent even taking new people.
another new thing is you need to purchase add on coverage for things like imaging, surgery, CANCER, PT, several more in case you need it. assuming you are psychic and know what you need next year.
If it’s ACA compliant, you shouldn’t need to get add-on coverage for cancer. That’s concerning!
There are some benefit programs that will reimburse you for certain surgeries like knee placement, back surgery, hysterectomy. They might send you $600-1000 once surgery is complete.
What they don’t tell you is they’re hired by the employer to reduce costs. So they will send the employee “information” about the benefits of a lesser surgery, and discuss it in required phone calls. I know someone who was pressured to not have her scheduled total hysterectomy by the benefit company, even though it was scheduled for cancer prevention/BRCA.
Some “benefits” are manipulation focused on money, not health.
My husband’s company gave me one year free of his insurance as a courtesy. After that first year, they wanted $24,000 a year to cover me and my daughter. I had to opt out and go back to my teacher insurance, which was not nearly as good.
My heart goes out to people aged 50-64. Before you are eligible for Medicare, rates get so outrageously expensive, and it’s a time in a person’s life when they typically need care. Our system is so disfuncional, but enriches a lot of powerful people.
You have to wonder how much money US businesses would save if they didn’t have to purchase insurance for employees. I’m kind of surprised Dems haven’t highlighted the way single payer would help businesses.
Thank you — I feel seen! I’m about to turn 64 and this year my ACA premiums were more than $18,000 for the year. And we’re just days away from finding out what the new rate increases will be! I do feel lucky that I’m near the “finish line” of qualifying for Medicare but who knows what these goons will do in the next year. Perhaps Don Jr will need more cash in his latest business scheme and they’re just liquidate Medicare entirely.
“You have to wonder how much money US businesses would save if they didn’t have to purchase insurance for employees”
Just going by the companies I’ve work at, the answer is A LOT.
Just take the example of $28k in premiums a year, if an employer pays 75% of that’s $21k for that one employee. (And the employee pays $7k, almost $600/month which is also alot). Also add the overhead of administering the insurance. Where I currently work, it’s one of the top expenses, after material costs of products, salaries & wages, and rent.
Yes, the employer gets to take that as a business expense, which can reduce the tax they pay, but it’s not a giant deduction.
All that money is going out of the active economy of individuals and employers and into the hands of … not even health care providers … but to for-profit insurance companies and of course their executives.
Even with insurance, you now have to consider buying supplemental insurance to cover out-of-pocket costs that your primary health insurance may not fully pay (deductibles, copays, transportation, etc.). Basically, even if you have great health insurance a big medical incident could still cost you thousands and thousands of dollars.
And don’t get me started on dental insurance!
I’m one of those self-employed people whose health insurance premiums would be about $25K/year. I’ve had cancer scares and surgeries to remove precancerous tissue (breast, uterus and cervix, skin) and my husband and I are currently without healthcare because of the cost. It’s disgusting that those in Congress are in bed with the insurance industry, voting to gouge the very citizens they’re supposed to represent (while receiving free healthcare for life). Please vote 💙
Yeah most of my paycheck goes to our health insurance premium and we have a high deductible on top of that. I told my husband unless something catastrophic happened, we would just be paying mostly out of pocket for medical care. Then my daughter ended up in the hospital for 3 days and now we’ve met our deductible (we owe several thousand dollars to the hospital bill). But wait, there’s more! I have to have a CT done on my lungs soon and the copay is still $100. To which I say, what are health insurance CEOs saving all of those millions they make off sick people for? Their trip to hell?
Healthcare is a basic human right…says who?
Not the US government.
They don’t believe clean water is a basic human right or heating.
Healthcare is clearly a luxury.
I have Medicare, no supplemental plan. If something isn’t covered and I can’t afford I just ignore it, I will probably die sooner but the way things are going that’s fine.