WNY Health Insurance Costs Continue to Outpace Wage Growth
Note: Workers in plans with no annual deductible for in-network services were assigned a value of zero. Source: Kaiser Family Foundation.
Healthcare costs, including out-of-pocket costs, continue to increase around the country, often outstripping wage growth (i.e., How much you earn vs. How much healthcare costs). In layman’s terms a dollar spent on healthcare a few years ago isn’t going as far as it used to. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, since 2010 while workers’ earnings increased 27%, family premiums and deductibles increased, 55% and 111%(!), respectively. In Erie County, the most populous county of Western New York, wages grew ~3.4% per year from 2017 to 2019. Experienced inflation in healthcare is very real and causing financial stress in many households across the country.
2022 WNY Health Insurance Rate Increases
The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) recently announced approved health insurance rates changes for 2022. In Western New York, with a few exceptions, premiums continue to increase for both individuals, couples, families and employer groups. Below is a summary, courtesy of Buffalo Business First.
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield (formerly BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York): 6.2% increase for individuals, reduced from 18.1% requested; and 8.6% increase for small groups, down from 17.6% requested (Note: Highmark BCBS is the largest insurer in the WNY region, serving over one million across its business lines)
Independent Health: 4.4% reduction for individuals, increased from the 0.2% reduction requested; and 0.1% increase for small groups, the rate it requested.
Univera Healthcare/Excellus: 4.5% increase for individuals (reduced from 6.2% requested); and 8.7% increase for small groups, reduced from 9.7%.
Fidelis: 0.1% reduction for individuals, reduced from the 3.7% increase requested. The company does not offer small group plans.
UnitedHealthcare of NY Inc.: 7.1% increase for individuals, reduced from 13.9% requested; and 6.3% increase for small groups, down from 17.5% requested.
MVP Health Plan: 8.5% increase for individuals, reduced from the 16.9% requested; and 5.7% increase for small groups, down from 7.9% requested.
Click2MD: Managing Your Healthcare & Expenses
One of the primary reasons we started Click2MD was not to replace people’s health insurance, but rather to compliment it. As both premiums and deductibles (i.e. when your insurance kicks in) increase, we thought many people and employers would need a solution to manage their healthcare costs, while minimizing any negative impact on quality of care. By offering primary care and physician home health care in a monthly membership format we believe (and have early evidence) we can help reduce the overall cost of care and more importantly improve our members’ quality of life.
For example, according to the NY DFS the primary drivers of increased health insurance premiums were drug costs (38.7% of the increase) and inpatient hospital costs (17.3%). We work with our members to not only manage the cost of their medications, but reduce medications when possible. In addition, our preventive care approach helps keep people out of the hospital, avoiding costly trips to the ER and hospitalizations.
Healthcare is complex and the reason for increasing costs is varied and nuanced, it’s a mixed of various factors from drug costs to the hospital operating expenses. Click2MD offers a simple and elegant solution to help reduce a person’s medical costs by proactively managing their care. Feel free to email us at info@click2md.healthcare or call us directly at (716) 528 0000 to find out more.
Click2MD, led by Mian Majeed, MD, is focused on medical home care, primary care, and weight loss.