Paying the Price


Last night, John McCain said:

The average cost of a health care insurance plan in America today is $5,800. I’m going to give them $5,000 to take with them wherever they want to go, and this will give them affordability.

The Kaiser Family Foundation says the cost of a family health insurance plan today is $12,680.

So who’s right?

Well, 158 million people get their health insurance through work. So 158 million people are used to – and have come to expect – the standard benefits that come through employer-based insurance. That benefits package runs $12,680/year.

15 million people buy health insurance on their own. And according to AHIP, the health insurance industry front group, the average cost of a family plan in 2006-2007 was $5799. But what do you get with that $5799 plan?

When you buy bargain health insurance, you buy defective insurance that’s not going to meet your needs.

Someone should inform Senator McCain that last time employer-based family premiums cost close to $5800 was back in 1999:

Premiums rose a modest 5 percent this year, but they have more than doubled since 1999 when total family premiums stood at $5,791

UPDATE: Don’t just take my explanation for it. Here’s more.

One thought on “Paying the Price”

  1. Tom and I just did the math and figured out that we are paying about $18,000 for health care right now. He and his company split the $10,000 cost for the actual insurance. Then between our co-pays, deductibles, and medicines, we pay around $8,000. I’d love to find out where McCain’s advisors came up with the $5,000 number? Is that what the lowest quality of health insurance costs right now? Is it just an arbitrary “sounds like a nice political sound bite” figure? I’m just baffled.

Leave a Reply to Tracy Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *