Benefit consulting and actuarial firms continue to release estimates of health care cost increases for 2027, particularly for employer-based health plans, which cover the most Americans. The updated estimates are not pretty, with Aon recently saying that costs will increase 9.5% this year, to over $19,000 per employee. That will be the fourth year in a row of very high rises in costs, far above general inflation. It isn’t just employers who pay, the average employee will spend over $5000 on health care according to the estimates. The supposed causes include prescription drugs, especially for cancer and for weight loss, ongoing chronic conditions, and provider use of billing maximization software. The really biggest villain is large hospital systems. I tire of putting forth the same old tired cures, but what I have suggested is the surest way to actually reduce spending. The idiots (post to come soon) pimping a single-payer plan would be lynched if they ever succeeded in implementing one. Providers would go apeshit at the low payment rates, patients would love the long wait times, and we all know just how efficient and competent government services are. But we have to do something soon, this is just killing businesses and consumers. (AON release)
