Health Care Realities
Health Care is Personal- and now it's Economic
No matter how much we may want to argue and debate the politics- the facts speak for themselves
1. We will all die eventually- everyone will use the health care system at one time or another- whether we can pay for it or not.
Over our lifetime- we will (on average) spend around $400,000 on health care expenses; Source The Lifetime Distribution of Health Care Costs; Health Research and Education Trust; 2004
2. Our population is getting older- we have not even started to see the impact the Baby Boomers will have on the Medicare system- we can't let it break the bank for future generations; Medicare costs are a debt and economic issue facing our country.
3. Retiring Americans on Medicare will need to have around $150,000 available to pay for medical expenses not paid-for by Medicare- only to have a 50% chance they will have enough
4. Today only 25% of Americans could come up with $2000 within 30 days if they had to. Almost 50% would need to sell something to come up with the money
5. Employer premium costs have increased over 120% over the past 20 years, and workers wages have only increased 30% (Kaiser; Health Research and Education Trust)
6. The average deductible (what we pay) for an employer-sponsored plan has increased from $750 in 2008 to over $1200 in 2010 (National Survey of Employer Sponsored Plans; Mercer) and its only going to grow.
Bottom-Line: The costs are shifting to the individual and we need to be informed and prepared. We will not be going back to $10 copays with limited responsibilities for health care bills and something dramatically needs to change the way we deliver health care in America. Don't expect that to happen anytime soon.
