Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

Medical Cost Culprits, Pt.3 – Let’s identify the remedy.

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In order to make health insurance affordable in this extremely-depressed economy, alternatives must be found to share cost, as well as risk. As long as health insurance picks up all of the tab, the medical providers have free reign to keep jacking up costs. This is not to say that there are no abuses on the health insurance side of things, only that the primary key to getting this crises back to sanity is controlling the costs of medical care. It’s not about minor inefficiency, it’s about abuse. Caveat emptor, or ‘buyer beware’. It’s been suggested by Mr. Cunningham that a ‘tipping point’ is finally being reached. In a healthy economy and before medical costs abuse became so rampant, there was much more elasticity in what people were willing (or could afford) to pay for medical costs. Much like fuel costs, as much as we may need it, there comes a point where we just can’t afford it. Quality of life diminishes quickly in these times, ‘til people realize that only extreme measures can stop it.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the highest rate of victims foregoing necessary medical care ore those with health insurance. They were at 38%. What is striking is the change in the rate of those who do have health insurance that are, increasingly, going without necessary medical care. This is the greatest change, jumping from 11% in 2003 to 17%. This is a 155% increase on just four years. In summary, we hear from the chief executive of America’s Health Insurance Plans, Karen Ignagni. This is an insurance-industry trade organization. Karen warns that “policy makers must address a variety of issues to make the health system more affordable, including variations in quality of care and high costs associated with such things as surgery, medical imaging and numerous specialty drugs”. To accomplish that, we all must do our part in resisting the abuses of out-of-control medical costs, by what ever measures necessary.