Rising healthcare costs | Dallas News Live

Well, your next health plan may cost more than you bargained for. As open enrollment season opens, two new surveys point to steep increases ahead. For people covered at work, the consulting giant Marsh says the combined tab for businesses and employees will swell some 8.2%. That is the largest spike in more than 20 years. And for self-purchasers on the ACA marketplace, insurers are proposing a median rate of about 15% without counting the subsidies. Perry Lunsford is here to break all of this down for us. He is a health insurance broker with the Healthy Insurance Dude Group right here in North Texas. Sir, thank you for being here. Let's get right into it. The majority of people I was reading, so about 157 million Americans under the age of 65, get their health insurance through their employer. So what is driving up the cost of that coverage? Well, nobody really wants to hear the answer to that, and it's pretty simple. There's too many hands in the cookie jars, and so many of those hands are owned by the same company. So, you know, when a hospital is owned by the insurance company, and that is also the same people fulfilling the prescriptions. Unless Congress steps in or somebody steps in, there's absolutely no reason for them to put their clients above their pocketbook. Not only are premiums going through the roof for some people, also deductibles, right? So some employers are raising those deductibles to try and keep the premiums down. But what does that trade off look like when you got to go to the doctor or heaven forbid to the hospital? Well, the first thing I want to say about that is, you know, the businesses, the owners, the CEOs, the people running these companies are doing the very best they can. They're not increasing the prices for their employees and increasing these deductibles because they don't like their employees. What does it mean? It means more out of pocket. So you're either gonna have to pay more right now or more later. You can have anything you want for free, you just gotta pay for it. And so most of the places where I experience dealing with owners and CEOs, they're doing the very best they can for their employees. That money's got to come from somewhere. As long as those hands are in that cookie jar, somebody's going to have to take care of it. Okay, so what if you are fortunate enough to have two people in one household, spouses that get insurance offers through work? When do you think it makes sense to perhaps split up the family's coverage? Well, here at the Health Insurance Institute, that's one of the things that we look at every single day. Sometimes the best thing in the world for a client or a family is to keep the employee at work and bring the rest of the family into a private plan or an Obamacare plan, whatever's right for them. And sometimes it really stays together. Every single person has a different Different math that we got to work through. So you mentioned Obamacare. That's also ACA, the marketplace. A little more than about 21 million Americans purchase plans through the healthcare.gov website or through a state exchange. On average, folks there are looking at about a 15% increase before those subsidies. So how do you find out exactly what you will pay? We've heard a lot of confusion over navigating those portals. Yeah, it's super confusing. I mean, how often would you go to Chick-fil-A if they wouldn't tell you how much it cost until after you ordered your chicken nuggets and saw how much you made? It's kind of ridiculous. My recommendation is get with somebody who's an expert. Let's let them take a look at it. Let's let them. Help you decide what's right for you, whether it is the marketplace or maybe something off market. There are some amazing plans out there, but yes, it's wildly, wildly frustrating. I do this for a living. I have a better plan than most people in the country and I pay less than most people in the country. And every month that payment comes out, I lose my mind. I mean, that says a lot right there for someone who is really entrenched in it. Let's talk Medicare, right? Okay. It's going to cost about $210 a month next year. Now, that's only an increase of about $7 a month, but that can add up. Can you explain who that impacts and what people need to be aware of when it comes to that? I mean, obviously, everything is a tax on the less fortunate. So whether it's $7 or $700, if you're at a place where $7 is important, that's going to affect you. If you're at a place where it's not, then that's not who we're really talking about. So who does it affect? Everybody over the Over the age of 65 that wants to be taken care of. As we said, open enrollment is now. We just got our email a couple of days ago here at Fox Corp. If someone is watching, and let's say they have 20 minutes today to look over their open enrollment options, what is the first thing that you would explain to them to check? Be honest with your income. Do not just keep lowering that income thinking that you're saving money, because at the end of next year, you're going to pay every penny of it back. So many people are struggling in all aspects of life, whether it's at the grocery store, putting gas in their cars, things like that. So about six in 10 adults say that they are worried about affording health care. I mean, that is absolutely staggering. So if someone is already putting off a doctor's visit or waiting to fill a prescription because they're worried about the cost, what's the best advice that you give them to turn to for help? Find someone who knows what they're doing in this world everyone's least favorite subject in the world is making them is anything that makes them feel stupid and everybody feels stupid when it comes to health insurance you know if you're at a place. Where you genuinely can't afford it, I can almost guarantee you there's help out there. We are happy to help. Every agent in the country is happy to help. Reach out to somebody and let them help you find the right plan for you that you can afford and that will take care of the medications and doctor visits you need. So I've got time for one more question. Even if you're going to keep the same plan, what's the best way to check whether your doctor is still in network? There's only one way to do that. Do not trust what the internet says. Call your doctor. All right. Call your doctor. Well, that's very, very good advice. And, you know, a lot of people are stressing out about this. Again, open enrollment. Everyone's getting their paperwork. People will be diving into that this weekend. Perry Lunsford, a.k.a. the healthy insurance dude, thank you for dropping by today. Thank you, my friend. Have a beautiful day. You as well.