What Is Going to Happen to Costs Between Now and 2014?
I’ve been wondering, as have some of our Silkin Management Group clients, what is going to happen to health care insurance premiums between now and 2014. Most of the regulations on costs and the implementation of health insurance exchanges don’t take effect until 2014. So what is to prevent, over the next 3 years, the continued escalation of premiums that we all have been experiencing over the last many years? Nothing, at this point.
A bill was recently introduced in the Senate by Dianne Feinstein to give the secretary of health and human services the right to review premiums and block any unreasonable rate increases. More legislation on this is being looked at as well.
At the same time, the insurance companies are stating that rate increases are caused by unchecked increases in prices that hospitals and other health care providers are charging, so limiting premium increases without addressing the underlying cause will be harmful.
If you or any Silkin Management Group clients are interested in learning more about this, I suggest you read the following article that was in today’s New York Times concerning this. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/health/policy/21health.html?th&emc=th. This article gives a good overview of what is being debated on this subject that can and will affect us all.
Jack Hennessy
Silkin Management Group Consultant
For more information about Silkin Management Group, contact us at: info@silkinmanagementgroup.com and/or visit our website at: www.silkinmanagementgroup.com. You can also call Silkin Management Group at 800-695-0257.
