Medical Insurance Rate Increases Average 20%
Posted on Wed, Jun 23, 2010
A recent survey conducted by Kaiser found that medical insurance rate increases averaged 20% in the individual and non-group medical insurance markets
About three quarters of people without group coverage said that they had a rate increase with their current medical insurance company or with a previous insurance company they were insured with. Of those, about 16% changed insurance plans at the time of the rate increase and they bought either a less costly medical insurance plan or they switched medical insurance companies. After everything considered, these same people who had rate increases ended up dishing out 13% more money than previously.
The reason they're spending more now is because those people that changed to a less expensive medical insurance plan aren't getting as comprehensive of coverage compared to before. When people changed plans, they were 4 times more likely to state that their new medical insurance plan has worse benefits compared to their prior plan compared to people that said that their new medical insurance plan's benefits are increased.
There are roughly 14 million Americans that obtain their medical insurance through the individual market or non-group market. About 57% of these people with individual insurance said that their policies just cover themselves and nobody else. Their premiums that they pay average about $3,606 per year, which is less than what the average premium for group sponsored coverage is, which is $4,824. However, group insurance typically offers more comprehensive coverage. For people who insure their families on their plan, their medical insurance premium averages $7,102 for the year.
Premiums vary by age, and older Americans have reported paying much higher premiums compared to younger people.
About 26% of these people have a high deductible of $5,000 and more. About 6% have a deductible that's $10,000 and more. For a single person policy, the average deductible is $2,498, but on a company sponsored PPO plan, the average deductible is $634. People that have a family plan have to meet their individual deductible, which averages $2,959. But for people that have a family deductible, which is the deductible that is required to be met by any combination of family members before benefits kick in, their average family deductible is $5,149.
People who buy their own coverage worry about their ability to pay for medical care compared to people with company sponsored coverage. In fact, 40% of people who purchase their own medical insurance say that they're not too sure or not at all sure if they'll be able to keep up with their medical bills, which is twice the amount of people with company sponsored coverage that said the same thing. Just 17% of those who purchased their own medical insurance plan said that they're very confident that they can pay their medical bills, compared to more than double that amount (36%) with employer sponsored coverage that said the same thing.
Over the previous year, 22% said that they themselves or a member of their family covered by their medical insurance plan didn't receive the medical care that they needed because of the high cost involved. Similarly, 20% said that they did not fill a prescription because of the cost involved.
People with pre-existing conditions were two times as likely as people without pre-existing conditions to skip medical care that's needed because of the high cost or not getting a prescription filled because of the costs associated with it.
About 38% of people reported at least a single problem with having their medical insurance company pay a medical bill. This was because either the medical policy paid less than what they were expecting, or the policy wouldn't pay towards a bill that they believed was covered, or they met the limit of what the policy pays for a certain illness or injury.