Health care costs expected to rise 7.5% in 2013

So much for bending down the cost curve. Reuters has the story which – not surprisingly – avoids any reference to the president’s health care legislation that obviously is a contributing factor to increased costs.

From Yahoo News, with a hat tip to Sweetness & Light.

The cost of healthcare services is expected to rise 7.5 percent in 2013, more than three times the projected rates for inflation and economic growth, according to anindustry research report released on Thursday.

But premiums for large employer-sponsored health plans could increase by only 5.5 percent as a result of company wellness programs and a growing trend toward plans that impose higher insurance costs on workers, said the report by the professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, or PwC.

The projected growth rate of 7.5 percent for overall healthcare costs contrasts with expectations for growth of 2.4 percent in gross domestic product and a 2.0 percent rise in consumer prices during 2013, according to the latest Reuters economic survey.

The author explains higher health care costs in one paragraph.

Upward pressure on healthcare costs comes in part from a rebounding economy and the growth of new medical technologies, including robotic surgery and the nuclear medicine imaging technique known as positron emission tomography.

No mention of Obamacare … and what the hell is positron emission tomography?

Of course, back in September of 2010, health insurance companies were telling state regulators the health care legislation was causing them to increase rates, (more here and here) but you won’t see that in the media this year, it’s election time for Obama…

As a reminder … Health care insurance companies responsible for only 5% of premium increases.

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Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

13 Comments

  1. sammy22 on May 31, 2012 at 3:38 pm

    Positron Emission Tomography= PET, like in PET scans.



    • Steve M on May 31, 2012 at 5:47 pm

      Thanks for the info. You would have thought the author would have put in (PET scans) after the words since it is such an obscure reference.



  2. Lynn on June 2, 2012 at 9:09 pm

    Wait a minute. “Upward pressure on healthcare costs comes in part from a Rebounding economy”????? Am I missing something. I don’t ?think this economy is rebounding no matter what the alleged author of Yahoo news says.



  3. sammy22 on June 4, 2012 at 12:19 pm

    I would guess that the 4 million or so people who were re-employed since the Great Recession, would think there was a rebound.



    • Dimsdale on June 4, 2012 at 12:46 pm

      Presuming, of course, that they aren’t underemployed or part time employed, or juggling several of the aforementioned to make ends meet.? I doubt that I would look on that as a rebound.



  4. sammy22 on June 4, 2012 at 1:23 pm

    You either believe or don’t believe the data from the Labor Dept. It’s too self-serving to pick and choose the data to bash the state of the economy.



    • Dimsdale on June 4, 2012 at 3:08 pm

      The economy doesn’t need any help in getting bashed: it is crappy, and the looming “Taxageddon” guarantees that it won’t be getting any better soon.? What it does guarantee is that there will be a flurry of band-aid fixes during the lame duck session.
      ?
      You “guessed” about what the “4 million” reemployed people were thinking.? I simply retorted with more relevant factors that might influence said thinking.



  5. sammy22 on June 4, 2012 at 5:11 pm

    Your relevant factors are just a bunch of? guesses, i.e. irrelevant. Followed by more guesses about the future.



    • Lynn on June 5, 2012 at 7:08 am

      Sammy, I don’t know what else a person can do but guess. Unless a person is clairvoyent! No one knows what will really happen. I’ m interested to know what you and others think will happen. That is why I read RVO. Don’t be shy, go for it!



  6. sammy22 on June 5, 2012 at 1:08 pm

    Lynn, unless the blame game stops, the country will just muddle along.



    • Lynn on June 5, 2012 at 4:03 pm

      I agree blaming is getting us nowhere. But what if ?I say we need to hold public officials a accountable. Does that make sense?
      ?



  7. sammy22 on June 5, 2012 at 5:12 pm

    Sure makes sense. I don’t think they are listening to us.



    • Dimsdale on June 6, 2012 at 8:20 am

      And thus, we have a TEA party….



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