TheRealMafoo said:
http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/deals/buying-private-health-insurance-14819/ America's Health Insurance Plans says the average individual annual premiums from 2006 to 2007 cost $2,613, or $218 a month |
Well, those numbers don't seem very accurate to me. These numbers are much higher, and are for employee coverage, which is typically cheaper than private health insurance:
http://ehbs.kff.org/?page=charts&id=1&sn=6&p=1
The average annual premium for single coverage in 2008 is $4,704 and the average annual premium for family coverage is $12,680. These amounts are each about 5% higher than the premium amounts reported in 2007.
Smaller firms (3-199 workers) have a lower average family premium ($12,091) than larger firms (200 or more workers) ($12,973).
Premium Costs for Single and Family Coverage
- The average cost of premiums for single coverage in 2008 is $392 per month or $4,704 per year (Exhibit 1.1). The average cost of premiums for family coverage is $1,057 per month or $12,680 per year (Exhibit 1.1).
- The average premiums for covered workers in HDHP/SOs are lower for single and family coverage than the overall average premiums for covered workers (Exhibit 1.1).
- The average premium for family coverage for covered workers in small firms (3-199 workers) is lower than the average premium for workers in large firms (200 or more workers) (Exhibit 1.2). The average single premiums are similar for covered workers in small and large firms.
- Average single and family premiums for covered workers in the Northeast are higher than the average premiums for covered workers in other regions. Average premiums for single and family coverage are lower in the South than in other regions (Exhibit 1.3).
- Premiums also vary significantly by plan funding and workforce attributes.
- Average single and family premiums are higher for covered workers in partially or fully self-funded plans than in fully insured plans (Exhibits 1.5 and 1.6).
- Covered workers in firms where less than 35% of workers earn $22,000 or less annually have higher average single and family premiums than covered workers in firms with a higher percentage of workers earning $22,000 or less annually (Exhibits 1.5 and 1.6).
- Average family premiums are higher for covered workers in firms with at least some union workers than for covered workers in firms with no union employees (Exhibit 1.6).
- Covered workers in firms where less than 35% of workers are age 26 or younger have higher average family premiums than covered workers in firms with a higher percentage of workers age 26 or younger (Exhibit 1.6).
- Average single and family premiums are higher for covered workers in partially or fully self-funded plans than in fully insured plans (Exhibits 1.5 and 1.6).
- There is a great deal of variation in premiums across workers and firms for both single and family coverage.
- Eighteen percent of covered workers are employed in firms that have a single premium that is more than 20% higher than the average single premium of $4,704, and another 22% of covered workers are in firms that have a single premium that is more than 20% less than the average single premium (Exhibit 1.7).
- For family coverage, 18% of covered workers are employed in a firm that have a family premium that is more than 20% higher than the average family premium of $12,680, and another 20% of covered workers are in firms that have a family premium that is more than 20% less than the average family premium (Exhibit 1.7).
- Eighteen percent of covered workers are employed in firms that have a single premium that is more than 20% higher than the average single premium of $4,704, and another 22% of covered workers are in firms that have a single premium that is more than 20% less than the average single premium (Exhibit 1.7).
And even these 2004 numbers are significantly higher than the ones you posted:
http://www.kff.org/insurance/chcm090904nr.cfm
In 2004, premiums reached an average of $9,950 annually for family coverage ($829 per month) and $3,695 ($308 per month) for single coverage, according to the new survey. Family premiums for PPOs, which cover most workers, rose to $10,217 annually ($851 per month) in 2004, up significantly from $9,317 annually ($776 per month) in 2003. Since 2000, premiums for family coverage have risen 59%.
We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke
It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...." Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson
