Although many blame the health law for all recent health care cost increases, trends that bump up the cost of care were in place before the law was enacted and are being driven up even more by routine costs, some say.
Kaiser Health News: Expect To Pay More For Your Employer-Sponsored Health Care Next Year
If you're one of the 150 million Americans who get health insurance through your job, prepare to pay more. The new year will likely bring higher deductibles and co-payments, penalties for not joining wellness programs and smaller employer contributions toward family coverage. While some workers and employers blame the federal health law for those changes, benefit experts say the law is mainly accelerating trends that predate it (Appleby, 12/20).
USA Today: Study: Routine Costs, Not Law, Lead To Most New Increases
Routine costs, not requirements of the Affordable Care Act, contributed to the majority of health insurance rate increases in the last year, a new study released Thursday shows. "It wasn't driven by utilization of the services, but the unit costs," said Mike McCue, lead author of the study by The Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit group devoted to improving health services for Americans. "That will continue to be a major driver moving forward -- trying to control those medical expenses -- if they want to remain profitable" (Kennedy, 12/19).
And big tax preparation firms plan to help educate customers on how they can sign up for health law insurance coverage.
