It’s annual enrollment for corporate benefits at work. Today is the last day I have to choose a new insurance plan, how much supplemental life insurance I want to own, etc etc.
I have been working here since July of 2002. Every year thus far, the system simply keeps me at the same levels I’ve historically been, unless I proactively go in and change a setting. This year is different. The system will default to nothing. So by doing nothing, instead of keeping my health care, I could effectively go an entire year without benefits. Including health care.
But that’s not the bad news.
This morning I visit the Human Resources Benefit website to re-enroll for the exact same choices I had already been accustomed to. And that’s when I noticed that my health insurance cost will be higher next year (for the same plan I’ve been in) by over 60%! That’s the year over year increase. Here are the numbers:
I am married with two children. My share of the health care cost in 2011 is $7,080. Next year, for the same coverage, same health insurance company, the cost is $11,370. That’s money straight out of my paycheck.
Because I was interested, I went into our payroll system as far back as it would let me go…which was 2005. In 2005, I paid $2,850 for the same coverage (as I mentioned, I hadn’t changed anything in years). So in 6 years, my health care coverage has doubled, and then doubled again. Up 300%.
If you go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (search on “inflation calculator”), and put in $2,850 in 2005, the result is $3,304.15. This means that for every dollar I spent in 2005, I’d need $1.16 today to purchase the same items. My healthcare cost is 244% ABOVE core inflation.
And I’m the lucky one. I have health insurance. I actually have good health insurance, although the numbers above don’t reflect my true out-of-pocket expenses due to co-insurance and deductibles, etc. That the CEOs of these companies are making millions of dollars per year off of these kinds of premiums is nauseating.
Thanks DailyKos Community. I just needed to vent.