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the rising cost of health care

June 14th, 2014 at 09:30 pm

Do you know how much your health insurance premiums have risen over the years? I was just looking at old pay stubs and I can't believe how much they have gone up. As a couple from 2005-2010 we had seen some large increase 25% in 1 year. I am floored. Because the overall dollar amount isn't large I haven't paid as much attention as I should have. But looking now I'm in shock.

As a couple
2005 $46 per pay period (26)= $1196
2006 $46 = $1196
2007 $32 = $832, they switched providers
2008 $40 = $1040, 25% increase
2009 $42 = $1096 , 5% increase

However in 2010 we had our first child and moved to the family plan in medical health insurance.

2010 $46 Couple (moved to family) $82 = $2132, 9% increase as a couple, so I assume 9% family.
2011 $84 = $2184, 2.5% increase
2012 $96 = $2496, 14.2% increase
2013 $101 = $2626, 5.2% increase
2014 $119 = $3094, 17.8% increase

Wow we've seen some serious increases. Apparently the insurance company raises it one year A LOT and then not by much the next year. In the grand scheme of things $3100 in premiums for our family is not a lot. But we still have to pay $20/visit copays. When everything is said and done we spend around $5k with premium and copays.

Is it worth it? Yes because employer sponsored programs are much better than what you can buy as an individual. But still when I see a 17.8% increase I cringe knowing that our 3% merit raise is really not going as far.

I went online to shop for a family of four with $2k individual/$4k family deductibles; Maximum annual OOP $6350 individual/$12,700 family, with $50 co-pay after deductible is $596.71/month! Ouch. Okay so I guess we'd better keep working or at least wait and see how health insurance works out. I mean we could easily have a higher deductible but it doesn't appear to be an option where we live.

Mr Money Mustache pays for a family of 3 $240/month HDHP. BUT where he lives is substantially cheaper. It really does vary because in the comment section of his post many commentors are unable to get their premiums for individual policies that low. So YMMV in buying your own. I can't believe that ours would be nearly 2x what his is monthly.

Our dental costs $20.90 a pay period = $543.4/year. The question is would it be cheaper for us to self insure? Not really with cleanings for a family of 4 (well 3) 2x a year at $100-150/pop we are looking at a minimum of $600 OOP at a minimum. And this year like last I still am having an implant crown put on. Which by the way the insurance company doesn't want to pay to put on! Arrgh.

Our vision is $6.54 a pay period = $170/year which used to be easily reached with me getting contacts every year (got a year for free with insurance). But I'm not sure now it's still worth it with a check up being $49 elsewhere. But for $170 maybe it's worth the peace of mind.

I am still just floored at how fast health insurance appears to be going up. Way above raises and cost of living inflation. And it's still a lot cheaper than buying our own.

4 Responses to “the rising cost of health care”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1402797411

    Very interesting! We haven't paid health insurance premiums since 2006 when my husband began working full time for the military. We do pay dental insurance for myself and my daughters. It is interesting how premiums can vary from state to state.

  2. LivingAlmostLarge Says:
    1402923527

    It is very expensive and rising fast. I don't know how others on a much tighter budget can accomodate such increases.

  3. Nika Says:
    1403116908

    "I am still just floored at how fast health insurance appears to be going up. Way above raises and cost of living inflation. And it's still a lot cheaper than buying our own."

    But, if you look at your DH's income in 2005, vs. his income now, it has probably risen by more than 2K, the actual dollar difference between your premiums per year than and now. So depends how you look at it.

    Our health insurance, for myself, DH and DS is $2,056 PER MONTH (medical and dental). We don't have any medical conditions. Luckily, employer pays 80% of that.

  4. LivingAlmostLarge Says:
    1403391258

    I am very much appreciative of what we have. I have no idea what DH's employer pays but I'm sure it's a lot. His income has gone up a lot because of a promotion. But it's still amazing at 3% raises now the rate of health insurance has gone up by 18% a year.

    Of course something that annoys me is the fact that coverage has decreased and a lot more things are not covered either. So prices probably could be higher but they cut coverage. A small thing my daughters inhaler flonase was covered but we had to switch her to pulmicort this year because the pharmacy coverage didn't cover it anymore.

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