Why Are Health Insurance Premiums High?

In this article I am going to talk about health insurance and why I think the President's health care reform should be looked at from a different angle. One of his things he wanted to fix is reducing costs. That I don't have a problem with. I think how he wants to do it isn't the way it should be done. I am providing a few personal experiences of my own and from family members who have had health insurance who don't. I will also discuss a few options people may not be aware of, but with all the state and federal budget cuts some of these options may be on these lists. That is sad when what some of the things the President wants to add can be used to restructure what is already in place.

This is two fold problem when it comes to health care costs. Two fold may be on the short side of the actual problem, but the two main reasons health care is so high is due to these two main reasons; the cost of health insurance and what medical providers charge. These are the two things that plague people the most who have any type of insurance. For those who don't have insurance, the costs of medical providers are their largest problems at this time.

First, let's take a look at medical insurance. The actual cost of medical insurance for those who are paying for it out of pocket can be rather costly. For those who are paying for their medical insurance are having to pay the monthly premium on top of their monthly bills. For many of these people, their monthly premium can be astronomical compared to a company paying for it all or the employee paying for part of the monthly premium while the company they work for pays the difference. While the second part of the last sentence is far cheaper for many people, those who are not this lucky may find their monthly health insurance premium to be near the amount of what they are paying for their monthly rent or house payment.

This is one of the things that needs to be reformed. The president shouldn't be looking at adding more options for people to have health insurance. He should be looking at how the monthly premiums can be brought down to a level that people can afford without having to lose other things they need in life. Like I mentioned a bit ago about the cost of the premiums compared to rent or a house payment, people need health insurance and a place to live on an income they are making now. By having to pay a health insurance premium that takes as much of their monthly income as rent or a house payment is wrong.

If you figure that you are paying between 25% to 30% of your monthly income on your rent or mortgage, then why should your health insurance premium be near that? If your insurance premium is another 25% to 30%, you are paying 50% to 60% of your monthly income on just your rent or mortgage and health insurance premium. This doesn't leave much for your other monthly bills. These bills can include electricity or gas, water, garbage pickup, phone, car payment (if you are paying on a car loan), car insurance (which everyone who owns a car has to have some type of insurance), and groceries. Those are just the bare necessities. Then for those who pay for cable, internet, who have credit card payments, and any other accrued debit, there won't be enough money in the pot to pay for any of these. This is one of the reasons so many people are facing foreclosure and going into bankruptcy. The health insurance premiums for those who pay for them out of pocket needs to be looked into.