The cost of health insurance is directly in proportion to the cost
of health care. According to several sources, including the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services, approximately 10 cents of every
dollar is spent on “insurance costs”. The remainder
of your insurance dollar goes directly to the cost of health care.
The following chart outlines where these dollars go:
COMPONENTS OF RISING HEALTHCARE COSTS [LINK]
Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers
Health care costs have been increasing at a dramatic pace and understanding
why can help you control your own costs. The components of health
care are not necessarily contributing to the rising costs equally.
The following chart provides a good understanding of where these
increased costs are coming from:
WHERE DO YOUR INSRURANCE DOLLARS GO?
Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services
In order to be better consumers, it is important that you have
data to know the costs and quality of the services between competing
health care providers. WAHU continues to work to provide consumers
with this information. There are many private initiatives that have
taken great steps to collect and disseminate such data and WAHU
is pleased to work with these initiatives as a far better alternative
than government regulations. However, where the private market fall
short in providing such data, WAHU will continue to explore all
efforts to get this information to you, the consumer.
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