Health insurance went up 7.7 percent this year, thats twice the rate of inflation. Premiums have increased by 78 percent since the year 2000 compare that to salary increases of just 20 percent and the real picture starts to have an impact.

Individuals are now averaging a little over $4000 a year in premiums with American families paying out almost $11,500 this year. Companies offering health care benefits now stands at 61 percent this is down from 69 percent in 2000. It’s estimated that over 155 million Americans will get their health care benefits from their employers. To lower the over-all cost of the insurance plans many companies are now offering benefit packages with higher deductibles. It should be noted that this report comes out after a recent Census reported that 1.3 million Americans where added to the ranks of the uninsured during 2005. What becomes clear here is the long term trend towards the decline of coverage supplied by small businesses from their employees.

“To working people and business owners, a reduction in an already very high rate of increase just means you’re still paying more” said Dr Drew Altman, president and chief executive of the Kaiser Foundation.
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Around 7 million people in the UK are covered by health insurance, the majority being covered through their employers. The problem is that few have really studied their policy documents and many misunderstand what is covered. And perhaps just as important, what isn’t. If you expect health insurance to pay all your health costs, you’re mistaken.

Health insurance is designed to provide protection for curable, short-term health problems and allow policyholders to jump the NHS queues to see consultants, be diagnosed, receive surgery or be treated. That sounds fine, but before you buy you need to appreciate the treatments and situations that fall outside the scope of the cover.

But first a word of warning. This article does not relate to any specific policy and the terms and conditions issued by individual insurers do vary. So please ensure you also check your policy documents. After reading this article, you’ll know what to look out for!

Sorry – it’s a chronic condition
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