FRESH

Hacker News

Home

Americans face biggest increase in health insurance costs in 15 years

55 points by cs702

by mitchbob

0 subcomment

https://archive.ph/x17re

by ManuelKiessling

0 subcomment

It’s interesting how it’s the same in Germany — a country which in many regards, but especially in this one, is on the opposite side of the spectrum in terms of how the underlying system works.

by ksec

5 subcomments

I just dont understand why health insurance and medical cost in US are so expensive.

by blitzar

5 subcomments

I struggle to have sympathy for the people of a country that has collectively chosen, time and time again, to have a thing they now have.
Congratulations you have what you wanted.

by fzeroracer

2 subcomments

At this point the only tenable option is going to be some sort of single-payer healthcare. Small businesses can't afford the healthcare costs to employ people and your average worker can't afford the costs either. When I was looking for a plan earlier since I got laid off about a month ago, the cheapest plans were in the $500 or so a month range which is insane for someone that's had zero health issues so far and doesn't smoke or drink.
I fully expect the west coast states to implement single payer before the government ever catches on.

by r2b2

0 subcomment

Patients and providers should have the ability to shop and negotiate price directly with each other. No 3rd party will ever be in a better position to negotiate individualized care and prices for 350,000,000 people better than we (or our family) can for ourselves.
Currently, patients cannot price compare anything, not even for the exact same drug from two different pharmacies on the same street! To make it worse, most providers can't even make sense enough of the provider-insurer prices to shop on behalf of the patients.
To improve prices in healthcare, all care must have a price visible to all, paid by patients. Insurance should be required by law to publicly publish their reimbursement rates and immediately (48 hours) reimburse their insured patients for care at approved (in-network) providers.
This would end the current: impossible to self advocate, impossible for providers to advocate on behalf of patients, intractable insurer-provider price web.
Insurers and providers should never negotiate price. Providers should only be concerned with providing good care, how to classify/code it, and the amount they need to charge for that care to be financially viable. Insurers should only be concerned with how much they will pay out for each classification/code, and which providers they authorize as in-network.
Last, since there is a long tail of medical care that doesn't fit nicely into a code box, each plan should have a mandatory minimum coverage of something like 50% all unknown-care costs at in-network providers and pharmacies above $5,000 annually, with some annual cap.
As a society, if we want to further subsidize healthcare for those with lower economic means, and/or those who end up with catastrophic expenses, then that should be done on it's own, as two distinct standalone welfare programs.

by nodesocket

5 subcomments

I’m self employed and literally have the cheapest (non healthcare.gov) plan I could find at $396 a month. The plan is absolute garbage with carve outs, high deductibles, limits, and caps. I fully expected if I ever really need to use it (knock on wood), they will screw me and deny claims. My premiums have nearly doubled in the last 5 years.
Seriously considering not having insurance and going cash. Any recommended plans for freelancers / solo self employed?

by westurner

0 subcomment

Is this the most predictable outcome in a for-profit competitive health insurance market?
Was this the outcome of Romneycare in MA?
Do other countries with single-payer health care have these types of sudden mass price increases by health insurers?

by paulddraper

1 subcomments

> One of the insurance companies, UnitedHealth, has cited tariffs from President Donald Trump’s trade wars as a reason for the increases.
My understanding was most of the cost of healthcare was human services.

by Tarsul

0 subcomment

If there's one "positive" in the labor stats the past few months it was an increase in employees in healthcare positions.