In the previous two posts, I show that out of pocket costs are rising given the increasing prevalence of high deductible insurance plans. That means that even though you have insurance, you are going to be paying for your own care until you reach the deductible.
Here is a picture showing that out-of-pocket costs are also rising at the point of insurance purchase. When people buy health insurance in the US, much of the cost is often picked up by their employer. It’s still the person’s money, of course. Money is fungible, and the employer “contribution” is, ultimately, coming out of people’s take home pay. But it doesn’t FEEL like it costs money, because we employees never pay those bills. We only pay a portion of our insurance premiums.
Well the absolute dollar value of that portion has been growing quickly, as shown by this picture, once again from the Kaiser Family Foundation:
A more than doubling of people’s contribution to their insurance, in only 10 years. Hard to deny that health care costs are taking a toll!
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