How much does health insurance cost in the USA?

 See how much health insurance costs? Citizens across the United States of America pay premiums for health insurance, but these premiums paid monthly or annually vary greatly, as the value of these premiums is not determined according to health or gender, thanks to the Affordable Care Act - with some exceptions - but rather determined according to several factors We will address it below

 Several factors contribute to determining the value of health insurance premiums such as state and federal laws that regulate costs, where you live, whether or not the job provides insurance, and the type of insurance plan chosen.

 The annual value of insurance coverage for a family of four is $20,576, and 71% of this cost is borne by business owners (in 2019).

 Perhaps the rising cost of health insurance explains the lower salaries over the past two decades.

 The highest premium for a standard insurance plan (for someone age 27) is $723 in Wyoming, while the lowest is $282 in New Mexico.

 Deductions may vary based on the size of the company the insured works for, or based on the type of insurance plan.

Factors affecting the value of the insurance premium:

There are many factors that influence the amount of health insurance payments that are not under control, so it would be good to understand what those factors are. These factors are:


 State and federal laws, which determine what insurance must cover and how much the insurance will cover.

 Will the insured obtain insurance through his job or personally?

 Is the insured's salary high or low? Low-wage workers tend to pay more through their employers, but may pay less through exchange because of the subsidy.

 The amount of work that the insured is working on. Insurance is usually cheaper for larger companies.

 The state in which the insured lives.

 Does the insured live in the countryside or urban? Premiums tend to be lower in urban areas.

 The county in which the insured lives. Some counties have only one insurance plan, and others are more competitive, which means lower prices.

 The type of insurance plan. Both preferred organizations and platinum plans offered by the Federal Marketplace for Health Insurance tend to be more expensive.

 Age. Older people pay 3 times as much as younger people.

 Smoking. Smokers pay 50% higher premiums.

Coverage provided by operators contributes the largest share of factors that determine the cost and coverage of insurance coverage.


Health insurance premiums for employees:

If you work for a big company, the cost of your health insurance may be the same as a new car. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) research published on September 29, 2019, on health benefits for business owners, it was found that:


 The average annual premium for health coverage for a family of four is $20,576, which is roughly the price of a 2019 Honda Civic.

 On average, families bear about $6,015 of that cost, which means that business owners bear 71% of the premium.

 Business owners pay premiums of $7,188 per employee, while the employee pays $1,242, or 18% of the premium value.

The average cost of an insurance plan includes all types of available insurance plans such as:


 Health care organization plans.

 Service point plans.

 High-deductible health plans with savings options.

Preferred service provider insurance plan is the most popular, offering 44% of insurance coverage for workers, followed by high-deductible health plans with savings options, such as a health savings account, offering 30% of insurance coverage for workers.


Of course, what employers spend on their employees' health insurance affects their wages, so employees bear the burden of paying insurance premiums to a greater degree than the numbers show. In fact, the high cost of health insurance is one reason why wages have not increased significantly over the past two decades.



At the same time, employees must pay premiums from their pre-tax income, but their insurance burden may be lower than those who obtain their insurance from federal health insurance markets or from state health insurance exchanges.


How much does health insurance cost in the United States of America - the chosen insurance plan - health maintenance organizations - insurance coverage provided to workers


The type of insurance plan that employees choose affects the amount of insurance premiums and deductions due, the choice of hospitals and the type of health service provided to them, and their access to health savings accounts.


With regard to families, when the couple receives an insurance offer from both sides of their work, they may find that one of the two offers is better for the whole family, so it is necessary to compare the two offers well, and the partner who will not use his insurance offer can refuse this offer and benefit from its value, but if the couple is without For children, they can choose between individual insurance plans for their two employers.


Individual health insurance premiums in insurance exchanges:

At the time of writing this article, the government website for health care has not announced premiums for insurance plans on insurance exchanges, however, on October 22, the US Department of Health announced a decrease in the value of premiums, and an increase in the number of insurance plans available for 2020.


This year, insurance exchanges will offer insurance plans through 175 service providers instead of 132 two years ago, but this is still less than the number of service providers in 2016, when it amounted to 237, and the Ministry’s media sector announced changes in the premiums of registered individuals aged 27 years in what It is known as the reference plan, in the context of the current administration's talk about improving market conditions.



The reference plan is the second lowest cost of the silver insurance plan, available through the health insurance exchange in a particular area, and it varies from state to state, and is called the reference plan because the government uses it - besides income - to determine the amount of support due on insurance premiums.


The Ministry of Health announced a reduction in the average premium of the second lowest cost for the Silver plan, by 4% from 2019 to 2020, on the government’s healthcare website.


Six states experienced a double-digit decrease in average premium cost, including: Delaware 20%, Nebraska 15%, North Dakota 15%, Montana 14%, Oklahoma 14%, and Utah 10%.



But it doesn't say how much the 2020 premiums will change for 50-year-olds who buy Bronze plans.


Dig deep for pricing information:

A summary of the 2020 Health Insurance Premiums Exchange report revealed that the cost of premiums for silver insurance plans for individuals age 27, increased by more than 10% in the states of Montana, Louisiana and New Jersey.


More importantly, the changes monitored by the report do not explain the amount of real payments borne by individuals. Some states with larger declines still pay relatively high premiums, and vice versa.



For example, the premium for a reference plan for Nebraska declined 15% in 2020 compared to 2019, to $583 for individuals age 27. In Indiana, the average premium for a reference plan for the same category rose 13% between 2019 and 2020, to just $314.


The average reference plan premium for 27-year-olds in Wyoming jumped to $723 (which begs the question: How many people this age can afford a monthly premium of that size?), while the New Mexico reference plan premium was $282, the lowest value. for insurance premiums in the states.


These numbers reflect the case of 38 US states, whose residents obtain their insurance through the Federal Stock Exchange, through the government health care website, while residents of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont, Nevada, New York, Washington and Washington, DC, obtain their insurance through the state insurance exchange. .

Importance of Subsidies (Subsidies)

Individuals who obtain their insurance from insurance markets incur lower premiums through the Premium Tax Credit Program, otherwise known as subsidies. This credit accrued 88% of people registered on the government healthcare website in 2019.

This subsidy is a credit that the government gives monthly on health insurance premiums to facilitate these premiums for individuals. The government pays part of the premium value directly to the insurance companies, while individuals pay the rest of the premium.

Individuals obtain the tax credit provided for installments in one of three ways, either in the form of equal amounts per month, or varying amounts per month (which is suitable for individuals with irregular income), or in the form of a credit to cover income tax, when submitting the annual tax file, which means Carry a lower tax or get larger exemptions. The tax credit is designed to facilitate the payment of insurance premiums, based on the number of family members and income level.

The amount of credit is determined based on the expected income throughout the year, so if the income or the number of family members changes during the year, it is better to update this data on the government health care website, to adjust the premium credit according to these updates, in this way the insurance holder will not face any surprises other than Sarah is the time to pay the tax, and he won't have to pay more premiums than he needs in the year.

Health insurance deductions

In addition to the insurance premiums, the policy holder bears all his health expenses up to the predetermined insurance value, where the insurance coverage is activated, so the policy holder bears part of the cost of the health service, while the insurance company bears the rest of the cost.

Most workers are covered by general annual deductions, and this applies to most health care services. The following is a monitoring of the variance of general discounts in 2019:

 Average general deductions per year for a single employee or employer: $1,655.

 Average annual deductions for one employee working for a small business: $2,271.

 Average yearly deductions for one employee working for a large corporation: $1,412.

Individuals who qualify for co-payments (a type of federal subsidy that reduces the cost of health care expenses, such as deductions and co-payments) incur lower deductions, up to $115 for individuals with income close to the federal poverty line.

A note about short term insurance plans

In the event that the registration period on the government health care website expires, and there are no reasons that qualify for the special registration period, individuals must obtain a short-term health insurance plan, which provides coverage for a period ranging from three months to a year, this type of plan costs less than the plans Available on the insurance exchange is about 54%, so the insured person may choose one of the short-term plans if he is unable to bear the cost of insurance through his job, or through the insurance market, he may not be eligible for benefits.

Although the legislation differs from one state to another in general, it can be expected that there are previously specific cases that are not covered by insurance plans, in addition to the fact that certain health conditions are not accepted to register their owners in insurance plans. Other common exceptions, such as maternity care, mental health care, and prescriptions, exist because there are financial limits for coverage.

Short-term insurance plans do not offer the same protection as insurance exchange plans, so they may not be useful enough, or not useful at all when maximum coverage is needed.

Minimum limits

How much a person pays for health insurance is not a guessable number, as it is subject to many factors, few of which are under the control of the insured person.

If someone buys insurance from a government health care website, they can use government tools to predict what benefits they qualify for, and if they buy insurance through their employer, they can review registration information, giving them time to review their options.

Attending sessions providing information about insurance and using any means of comparison from the employer helps to choose the best plans that a person can afford.

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