Well, I looked at my first pension stub in 2007. I see that my out of pocket premium with United Health Care with a high deductible is about $194. The company's contribution (for retirees with UHC) is $529. As an insurance company, they are doing right by us. That is a whopping $723 a month ($8676 a year). That means that the expected expense for someone in my situation is probably something like $10000 a year, even after getting the insurance company discounts from most providers (and the discounts on procs like cat scans are huge) in a managed care environment. Last year I spent 0. The year before I spent about $650 after discounts and referrals.
What is going on here? Is that because I just might someday need corornary bypass surgery, or something more radical like an organ or bone marrow transplant?
How much are we willing to spend to give everyone the chance to extend life as long as possible?
Moral hazard is an unpleasant notion. But health savings accounts, at least for younger people on a go forward basis, would make everyone take stock of himself or herself. But then how do we share the risks we cannot prevent?
They tell me that in Britain and Canada, with single payer, the waiting lists for many procedures over a certain age are still long.
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