Superman4 said:
They have lowered what procedures are covered as well as how much they cover per procedure. Go into a Drs office some time and let them know you dont have insurance and request the cash rate. You will be pleasantly surprised to find out that it is at least half of what your insurance company gets billed.
Also for shits and giggles, calculate how much you pay per month for your employer sponsored plan as well as how much you pay out of pocket for things that either arent covered or not fully covered. Separate the two totals. Now calculate how much your insurance company paid towards your claims for the year. I would bet you paid a lot more in just your payroll deductions for insurance than they paid for all of your claims on a given year. That isnt even including what you paid out of pocket after the fact. I would also bet that what you paid out of your check would have covered your medical expenses for the year at a cash rate billed by your Dr. The best part is that doesn't even include your employers contribution to Insurance which is generally much larger than what you are actually paying our of your check. If your employer did not have to pay for that and instead were able to raise your salary by that amount you could more than pay for any procedures you would need every year and have more money in your pocket as well. |
So you're saying that, in general, insurance costs the individual more per year from premiums, deductibles, etc. than what it pays out for their claims, right? I would agree, if you stay relatively healthy and have no major injuries--but again, if you have a major claim you cannot plan for or predict, insurance should cover tens of thousands of dollars more than you paid for. If you have no major problems for a given year, sure, you paid more than you used. The thing is, the money you paid but did not get back in claims covered someone else's major injuries that they couldn't predict, and vice versa if you get sick or injured.
If your employer raised your salary but you didn't use it for insurance, how would you pay for a major injury? Unless you don't get hurt for many years and save all of that extra money, you can't.
In addition, under the employer shared responsibilities provision of the ACA, what you are describing is probably illegal. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, employers with more than 50 full-time workers must offer health insurance that covers at least 60% of their healthcare costs and cost no more than 9.56% of their household income, or pay a penalty. Before the ACA was there any regulation that was more stringent?
