Health Care Insurance is Expensive Because Health Care is Expensive

Ever wonder why the insurance rates continue to climb?  I recently received a bill from an Arizona hospital and attending doctor that treated a cut on my daughter's head.  They cleaned it out, closed it with glue and she was out the door in less than an hour.  The bill arrived and the grand total...$1,645.  Unbelievable, yes but hardly unexpected.  Yet, because we have insurance, the bill was cut in half because of the negotiated rate the insurers had with the providers.  If you don't have insurance, you are actually charged more.  Congress passed and the president signed the Affordable Care Act and insurance companies are limited by law on how much must be paid in health care and what can be retained for business operational expenses and profit.  You see, insurance companies merely collect the money, pay the bills and keep what they can for their business.  Their profits are way less than drug companies and hospitals.  In fact, our local hospital's CEO salary was way over $1mm!

So next time you read about predatory insurance companies raising premiums, look behind the scene and see who is really winning the PR war.