In the first week of September 2013 the news started breaking on the actual costs for the new healthcare exchange insurance programs. On average, a young single person in Minnesota could expect to pay ~ $300/month for insurance, for an annual cost of $3600. There are various plan levels to choose from as well, and variables for age, family plans, etc.
Key to the operation of the whole system will be to enroll "young invicibles" into the insured pool to round out the risk base. For folks who haven't experienced any health problems in their lives, all of a sudden taking on a new expense for health insurance may not be all that easy to swallow. I wish I could find the article in the StarTrib that quoted some people reacting to the rates - "why is health insurance so expensive?" "I am just going to get the minimum coverage necessary." etc.
I predict that the consumer-driven behavior of individuals required to buy health insurance will be the real force that moves the needle with the underlying cost of healthcare. People will drive the premium payments down by choosing cheaper insurance options, insurers will compete with savvier plans, providers will need to re-engineer their operations to provide care at lower cost and compete for insurance company contracts, and service providers in the healthcare industry will revolutionize the way healthcare is delivered. All due to the forces of market competition that happen when CONSUMER chooses how much they will PAY.
We are living in exciting times in healthcare.
