[gplus count=”true” href=”https://solidhealthinsurance.com/blog/why-health-insurance-rates-are-rising-and-ways-to-find-affordable-health-insurance-in-brentwood” size=”Medium” ]There are 3 significant factors as why health insurance rates are rising and some ways to still find affordable health insurance in Brentwood.
1) Higher Treatment costs:
* The latest in medical technology may lead to improved care, but its contribution to heath care spending growth ranges from 38% to 65%.
* Doctors in the U.S. earn two to three times as much as other industrialized countries
* More physicians are becoming specialists, and specialists charge up to twice as much as primary health care practioners.
* Between 1997 and 2006, compensation increased 97% for dermatologists, 78% for gastroenterologists and 65 % for radiologists.
2) Prescription Drug Costs and utilization
* Half of all adults in the U.S. take at least one drug a day.
* 2/3 of people who walk into a doctors walk out with a prescription
* between 1990 and 2008, we are spending 6 times the amount on prescription drugs ( 1990 we spent $ 40 billion , in 2008 we spent$234 billion) .
* Specialty drugs can save and extend lives, but can be expensive, A new cancer drug can cost $ 100,000 or more per treatment regimen.
3) Cost Shifting
* Government programs, such as Medicaid and Medicare, pay physicians and hospitals lower rates than private insurers.
* Providers adjust prices charged to insurer to offset losses from partial or non-payers. On Los Aangeles alone we have 28% of Angelenos without health insurance.
Although these factors cannot be changed in a fast pace, but we need to tackle them, as the spiraled health care costs are go hand in hand with spiraled health insurance costs.
The best way to control your health insurance cost, is to review your policy yearly and see if there are new plans which offer more affordable health insurance or better benefit in Brentwood.