Health insurance went up 7.7 percent this year, that's twice
the rate of inflation. Premiums have increased by 78 percent
since the year 2000 compare that to salary increases of just
20 percent and the real picture starts to have an impact.
Individuals are now averaging a little over $4000 a year in
premiums with American families paying out almost $11,500
this year. Companies offering health care benefits now
stands at 61 percent this is down from 69 percent in 2000.
It's estimated that over 155 million Americans will get
their health care benefits from their employers. To lower
the over-all cost of the insurance plans many companies are
now offering benefit packages with higher deductibles. It
should be noted that this report comes out after a recent
Census reported that 1.3 million Americans where added to
the ranks of the uninsured during 2005. What becomes clear
here is the long term trend towards the decline of coverage
supplied by small businesses from their employees.
“To working people and business owners, a reduction in an
already very high rate of increase just means you're still
paying more” said Dr Drew Altman, president and chief
executive of the Kaiser Foundation.
Insurance companies have been under attack recently for
dumping families that build up large medical bills. In an
ongoing case in California the state is investigating a
claim against Blue Cross who stopped coverage for a family
when it's medical bills reached $20,000. The family have
been left with outstanding medical bills of over $60,000.
The company have accused the family of failing to disclose
in their coverage application an undiagnosed lump on one of
the children's chins. The family say they (or their
physician) knew nothing of any tumor when they made the
application.
These types of cancellations of coverage have now created a
massive backlash towards the insurance companies and
resulted in a number of ongoing lawsuits. The policyholders
are saying their polices were illegally terminated which
resulted in substantial financial hardship. State regulators
are investigating and have said they are now preparing to
take action against Blue Cross.
Something needs to be done to protect (us) the public
against these (insurance) companies. The hardship caused
when a family is faced with these medical bills at a time
when they really need the most support is nothing short of
criminal. Having taken our money every month for years on
end they should not have the right to terminate our
coverage. They should by law be forced to honor the
agreement they wrote and we agreed too.
Have an opinion or a question you would like me to answer,
then write me!
http://www.CarlHampton.com
“Your” Money Matters By Carl Hampton
From the Author of “
From
Credit Despair To Credit Millionaire”
