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Hey! It was supposed to Bend The Cost Curve Down - just like the Unemployment Rate was supposed to be below 6% by now due to the Stimulus.
The cost of providing health care benefits to employees rose by just 4.1% this year, the smallest increase in 15 years, according to a survey by human resources consultant Mercer.
And employers are expecting to see another modest increase of 5% next year, the survey of 2,800 companies found. That's a far cry from the beginning of the decade, when employers reported increases of 10% to nearly 15% a year. Last year, benefit costs rose by 6.1%.
This year, health insurance premiums rose by one of the smallest increments in more than a decade, and that's according to a survey released yesterday. Still, as NPR's Julie Rovner reports, it's still not clear why this happened, and if it's only temporary.
JULIE ROVNER, BYLINE: The annual survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust found that the average price of a family health insurance policy offered by an employer in 2012 is $15,745. That's a whole lot of money, but it's only four percent more than last year, says Kaiser Family Foundation president and CEO Drew Altman.
DREW ALTMAN: Four percent is a low increase, and it is good news for someone like me who has been studying health care costs for more than 30 years, and these moderate increases in health care costs are actually pretty striking.
The slow growth in spending per beneficiary from 2010 to 2012 combined with the projections of spending growth at GDP+0 for 2012-2022 is unprecedented in the history of the Medicare program.
Health care price inflation in November, at 2% year-over-year, was a tenth below Octobers reading. The 12-month moving average, equal to 2.1%, is fractionally above its 14-year low rate, and with 1 month to go, 2012 may come in lower than 2011 (which showed the lowest health care price growth since 1998).
January 7, 2013
WASHINGTON National health spending climbed to $2.7 trillion in 2011, or an average of $8,700 for every person in the country, but as a share of the economy, it remained stable for the third consecutive year, the Obama administration said Monday.
The rate of increase in health spending, 3.9 percent in 2011, was the same as in 2009 and 2010 the lowest annual rates recorded in the 52 years the government has been collecting such data.
lol, i love when I have a hick cornered, because they can't even put up an argument. they just use a vague attempt at insult and can't address the topic at hand. hahahaha
you think pediatricians and family doctors who take care of kids asking questions about child care is emotive. hahahahaha
I am going to a new doctor today for my annual physical and to check on a few things. I have relocated so I am going to a new Dr.
They emailed me a 3 page form to fill out and bring in with me. Most of it is standard medical history stuff, but one section is called "Prevention". It asks a series of Yes/No questions like do I smoke, drink alcohol, drink coffee ect. But one question stood out.
"If there is a gun in your home, is it out of children's reach and unloaded?"
Now first of all, in my home the answer would be both Yes and No. One is out of reach but it is loaded.
But the main question I have is what does this have to do with my medical care? I think we can proceed with my physical without the doctor knowing the details on how I store firearms. Plus the form had already asked the names and ages of my children. They are 26, 27, and 29.
Has anyone else had this bizarre question pop up at their doctor's office?
Whenever I shop around for a new doctor, I don't pay much attention to his credentials. I check the size of his fingers.
I had a female MD. Very small hands and slender fingers.
