Thu. Sept 13, 2007

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Health Care costs rose 6.1% last year, compared to 1.7% rise in inflation. Over the past 6 years the increase has been 78% compared to 17% inflation.

This has kept the insurance companies scrambling to stay profitable, and in turn has kept me hopping just to keep up with the changes. The latest incarnation of coverage has me paying for a high deductible from a Health Savings Account. Once that's depleted (and the deductible met), insurance takes over. Except for prescriptions, which I hafta pay for and then get reimbursed. And I have lots of prescriptions (for diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol). The biggest part of that expense is insulin (which ain't cheap).

So I spent most of yesterday trying to calculate what I've spent, what I'm still owed and what my various co-pays are. Not easy, since I'm reimbursed with lump sum checks, while doic visits, lab work and medications are billed separately. And there is an overlap between expendtures and reimbursments that ties up a lotta bucks.

But it turned out not to be as bad as it looked. And considering what I'm paying for insurance plus co-pays, it's still less than the cost of the prescriptions themselves.

So I can't really complain. But it feels like I should anyway.
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