Courtesy of Mish.
Middle-class households are finding more of their Obamacare costs are coming out of their own pockets.
Self-covered individuals are hit hardest, but employers providing coverage have fought back against rising costs by reducing plan benefits.
Deductibles are up 67% since 2010. That’s seven times more than wages. And the cost of prescription drugs is out of sight.
Please consider Burden of Health-Care Costs Moves to the Middle Class
Overall, health-care spending across the economy reached 18.2% of gross domestic product as of June, up from 13.3% in 2000, according to Altarum Institute, a health research group.
David Cutler, a Harvard health-care economist, said this may be “a story of three Americas.” One group, the rich, can afford health care easily. The poor can access public assistance. But for lower middle- to middle-income Americans, “the income struggles and the health-care struggles together are a really potent issue,” he said.
The Kaiser Family Foundation, a health-care research nonprofit, found deductibles for individual workers have soared in the past five years, rising 67% since 2010 without adjusting for inflation, roughly seven times earnings growth over the same period. A separate Kaiser analysis of tens of millions of insurance claims found patient cost-sharing rose by 77% between 2004 and 2014, driven by a 256% jump in deductible payments.
Shifting Burdens
In the 15 years since B.J. Welborn, 66, started taking the leukemia medication Gleevec, its list price has risen from under $24,000 for a year’s supply, to over $121,400, according to drugmaker Novartis. Now on Medicare, Ms. Welborn has a co-pay of $491 for a 30-day supply of Gleevec, seven times the co-pay on her old Blue Cross Blue Shield plan. She estimates she now pays between $11,000 and $12,000 a year for the drug.
Skyrocketing Drug Costs
My math says that if a one-month supply costs $491, a year’s supply costs $5892 not $11,000 to $12,000. However, even $5892 seems excessive. And it is. Blame regulation. Also blame fear of “death panels”.
Death Panel Discussion
Please consider Why Drugs Cost So Much.
