After several years of sometimes-uncomfortable increases, health care costs for the average family have risen only slightly over last year, a new report shows.
Most health care experts agree that the nation’s long and deep recession, coupled with a weak economic recovery, have kept health care costs down. How? Here are some reasons why the recession had an impact on health care:
Because of pay cuts, layoffs and other financial stresses, more consumers have chosen not to go to the doctor or to have elective surgery. Consequently, they aren’t paying as much for that care. Then there are higher out-of-pocket costs to think about. Five years ago, about one-fifth of workers had high-deductible health plans. Now, about half of employees pay at least $1,000 before their insurance kicks in, according to the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.
Consequently, the average American family now pays about $16,000 a year in health insurance premiums – an increase of about 4 percent over last year. Read more about the report here.