As premiums go up, it may be easy to blame the insurance carrier, but it’s important to consider the ways in which patients can influence price hikes. When policy-holders begin to draw more money from the carrier, the carrier must find a source of funding to pay for this increase in consumption, which often takes on the form of, you guessed it – higher premiums.
America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) recently commissioned PricewaterhouseCooper to conduct a study on healthcare spending. Despite the fact that the research was not done independently, healthcare consumers should still pay attention to the findings. According to the report, “increased utilization” of services composed 25% of the increase in health insurance premiums in 2007, and provider price increases made up another one-third of premium growth.
You can do your part to keep spending at a reasonable level in the following ways:
- Take note when a provider increases the price for a service or medication. Shop around to see if there are cheaper options in your area.
Talk to your doctor about switching from brand name medications to the generic version. Again, be sure to shop around because prices of generics can vary significantly based on the vendor and region.
If you have a chronic condition, opt for more frequent outpatient check-ups, rather than a much more costly stay in the hospital when something goes wrong.
To read more about the AHIP-commissioned report, visit: http://www.americanhealthsolution.org/costs/.