According to an analysis released by The Commonwealth Fund this week, private insurance premiums for employer-sponsored coverage will rise by 94% by the year 2020. This is on top of the 119% increase that has already occurred between 1999-2008. These premium increases were greater than four times the rise in family incomes during the same period, even prior to the current recession. And these are only the premiums alone, not including out-of-pocket costs – deductibles, co-pays, and miscellaneous fees – which have also risen. This is why medical bills have become the number one cause in 62% of bankruptcies. Yet, instead of reining in cost and saving us money, private insurance companies will continue to increase their premiums. Regardless of how we end up dealing with our current health care situation, any genuine reform must counter the rising cost of health insurance premiums. [via The Commonwealth Fund]
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Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.