Health insurance providers and employers both cite the rising costs of health care as the prime reason for the dramatic increase in health insurance costs. It is estimated that the cost of providing health coverage increases 5% to 7% per year.
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Since there are more medications and treatments to cure diseases and conditions, it’s natural to wonder why the cost of health care has increased so much. After all, if there are more ways to make people healthier, then health insurance should cost less, not more.
Unfortunately, the cost of meeting consumer demand for these treatments has also continued to rise. Bringing new medications and procedures to the market requires extensive research and testing over many years. The sophisticated machinery and diagnostic procedures that produce quick and accurate results take hundreds of thousands of man-hours to develop and produce. Because the technology is improving at such a rapid rate, research, development and testing never ceases. All these improvements result in costs that must be passed on to the consumer.
The last few decades have brought about many new medications that successfully treat chronic conditions such as high cholesterol, clinical depression, diabetes, asthma, and high blood pressure. Many of these prescriptions must be taken for life. Since improved health leads to longer lifespans, patients take these medications longer than ever before.
Despite increasing health insurance costs, it’s important to remember that prevention is the most effective way to reduce the burden on the health care system. Maintaining your overall health to the best of your ability will have the most beneficial effect on health expenses throughout the course of your life.
