We can't continue on like this: health insurance costs

WHEN WILL IT STOP!?!

I've written about this every hear now for three years.

In 2005 our health insurance (for two adults and a child) went up 11.3% and I wrote a diary "Health Care is Killing Us"

In 2006 our health insurance went up 21% and I wrote a diary "It can't go on. It must stop. Health care is making us sick"

So yesterday, 2007, I get the news, our insurance premium is now up 18% to 1033 a month.

I am part owner of a small business. The business can not afford health care, so we buy our own. Since we have a daughter and another on the way (adoption) and I have a preexisting condition (hypertension since 18yo) and am over 45, we MUST have health insurance and it's not cheap.

5 years ago it was 428.

Today it's 1033, 2.4 TIMES what it was in 2002. I can assure you our family income has not gone up 2.4 times in that time. In those 5 years we haven't had any out-of-the-ordinary costs. There was my sleep apnea, but I paid for the 600 dollar machine (insurance didn't cover it) and it's made me healthier. That's it. No emergency trips, no health issues, no change in coverage. Nope, just rising costs.

In the past few years we've absorbed the extra cost of the insurance. This year we can't. So we have choices to make. We've spent time over the last couple years paring down our bills so we can keep them within our income means. We have one car, we've insulated the house, I've cut our food bills in half, we cut our phone/cable/internet bill in half, we've done a lot. Our income just barely covers our bills.

Don't get me wrong, we are doing well. We've made some choices for our family that affect that bottom line. We've decided to live in San Francisco (with it's high housing costs we have to absorb), we've decided to keep our daughter in her private school (though we do get a huge tuition break) because she thrives there.

Now though, for the first time, we can't absorb this new rise in health care cost and live with the choices we've made. Something must give.

At this point we've decided to stay in SF (for various reasons that deal with raising our daughter) and in the school she's in. We are also keeping the internet and phone (I work at home, virtually, not a choice), can't cut food costs any more (in fact, they are rising). We've got it down to one car and car pooling.

So health insurance is going to have to give.

My partner is leaving our health care plan and finding another with a high deductible . That will allow me (who has the health problem and needs expensive meds) and my daughter (who is young) to keep our good coverage. Jointly we'll get our costs back down to around 800.

Less coverage, same price. That's the choice we made.

Now, you might have made a different choice, you might have moved to Ohio :), or taken your daughter out of her school and placed her in public school. We are still viable, our life, in fact we are doing pretty good.

But this isn't my point. The point is, that this is NOT sustainable. It's just the warning shot.

Consider this: At this rate of cost changes, in 5 years, if prices continue to rise (in just health insurance) at the rate they have for us, they'll be 2,500 a month.  At that point, we'll have taken our daughter out of private school and we'll have to leave San Francisco. Not miserable, lots of people do it and are happy.

In 10 years, our insurance will be around 6,000/month. At that point, we'll have sold our home in whatever state we had moved to and be living in a one bedroom apartment. We'll have canceled our cable and our cell phones. We'll have sold any car we have. I'll probably start growing food on our meager plot to supplement our grocery budget.

In 15 years, well... you get the picture.

This doesn't take into account of course the price of gasoline. In 2002 it was about 1.68 a gallon (and that's adjusted for inflation). Today it is 3.60. So in 5 years?  7.20?  In ten years? 14?  

Don't get me talking about food prices.

There is of course that other choice some have had to make, just go without insurance (which is the road we are heading down in part I guess with lower coverage).

This diary isn't a "oh woe is me" diary. This diary is a wake up call. This affluent family who works hard and is living the American dream is starting to feel the pinch of health costs and we can foresee, in the near future, where we can't continue like this 5, 10 years in the future

There are going to millions NOW who can't do it and there will be millions, tens of millions, more who that line where they can't continue is just around the corner.

Something is about to break. Do you hear the cracking sound?