During the debate over health-care reform this summer, I found that many people did not know how much it costs a family to buy health insurance. Why? Because many people either get it at heavily subsidized prices through an employer (who typically pays about two thirds of the premium), receive it through Medicare for about $100 per month, or receive it as part of a state workers pension.
Anyone who hasn’t shopped for health insurance lately should check out the Massachusetts Health Connector at www.mahealthconnector.org. An example: for a family of three, with income over about $55,000 (so no subsidy), with the parents in their mid-50s, plans can be purchased at rates negotiated by the state agency. In this example the plans range in cost from $905 to $2333 per month. The cheapest plan has deductibles of $2,000 per person and $4,000 per family and relatively high co-pays.
This is why it’s so difficult for millions of people to afford health insurance. These prices don’t give me any confidence that the health insurance exchanges being contemplated by Congress as a substitute for a nonprofit public insurer will make insurance any more affordable than it is today in Massachusetts.
I don’t know the best solution to reining in the inflation in health-care costs and to providing coverage to everyone—both things that I think important. I do think we should all understand the costs that many people face as we make up our individual minds about the issue.
Bill Scott
Stow Road
