In an aggregate sense, Yes. The basic costs of health care (doctor & hospital services, prescription drugs, etc.) and our population's consumption of health care services have been steadily increasing for decades. Health insurance costs are merely a reflection of these underlying factors.
When one drills down to a specific company's or a specific individual's history with their health insurance premiums then you will find substantial variations in individual results. A knowledgeable and experienced health insurance broker/consultant can often manage their client's benefits costs in ways that "beat the market" just like there always are some financial experts who outperform their peers in the stock market. The vast majority of my small business clients for instance have premium costs and benefit levels in 2014 that are not radical departures from their costs of a few to several years ago or, at the worst, they know that they have the best possible base cost level currently available to them in their marketplaces. This requires constant oversight of changing marketplace conditions, switching insurance carriers to take advantage of whichever carrier has the best value proposition at that particular time, and some fine tuning of benefit plan designs and funding approaches over a period of years to accomplish these results. But, it can be done because I have done it.
The implementation of the new requirements of ObamaCare have upset the long established rules for the health insurance marketplace and are having a profound impact on health insurance plan designs and costs. ObamaCare addressed many access issues to health insurance coverage (guaranteed issue of policies, no pre-existing conditions, etc.) but really does nothing to reduce either healthcare costs or consumption. In fact, many can argue that ObamaCare is helping to increase both costs and consumption which will translate into higher health insurance costs. Certainly ObamaCare is the most profound change in our nation's health insurance system in most people's lifetimes and it will make the years ahead much more challenging for both individuals and businesses when it comes to managing their health insurance & health care costs.
The guidance of an experienced health insurance expert who is staying on top of the rapid changes being prompted by ObamaCare is now more important than ever to both the individual and business health insurance consumer. If I can be of assistance in guiding you through these uncharted waters please feel free to contact me so I can put my 30 years of experience to work for you.
Regional Marketing Director, Capital Choice Financial Group,
Most policies do go up some each year and the increase is in direct response to rising health care costs and claims. However, we now see higher increases due to Obamacare and the killing off of much of the competition. The absence of competition is the biggest reason for premium increases.
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When one drills down to a specific company's or a specific individual's history with their health insurance premiums then you will find substantial variations in individual results. A knowledgeable and experienced health insurance broker/consultant can often manage their client's benefits costs in ways that "beat the market" just like there always are some financial experts who outperform their peers in the stock market. The vast majority of my small business clients for instance have premium costs and benefit levels in 2014 that are not radical departures from their costs of a few to several years ago or, at the worst, they know that they have the best possible base cost level currently available to them in their marketplaces. This requires constant oversight of changing marketplace conditions, switching insurance carriers to take advantage of whichever carrier has the best value proposition at that particular time, and some fine tuning of benefit plan designs and funding approaches over a period of years to accomplish these results. But, it can be done because I have done it.
The implementation of the new requirements of ObamaCare have upset the long established rules for the health insurance marketplace and are having a profound impact on health insurance plan designs and costs. ObamaCare addressed many access issues to health insurance coverage (guaranteed issue of policies, no pre-existing conditions, etc.) but really does nothing to reduce either healthcare costs or consumption. In fact, many can argue that ObamaCare is helping to increase both costs and consumption which will translate into higher health insurance costs. Certainly ObamaCare is the most profound change in our nation's health insurance system in most people's lifetimes and it will make the years ahead much more challenging for both individuals and businesses when it comes to managing their health insurance & health care costs.
The guidance of an experienced health insurance expert who is staying on top of the rapid changes being prompted by ObamaCare is now more important than ever to both the individual and business health insurance consumer. If I can be of assistance in guiding you through these uncharted waters please feel free to contact me so I can put my 30 years of experience to work for you.