“The advantages were already paid, I guess you could say,” said Cox.
“During the pandemic, fundamentally what insurers did Repairing costs and premium derogations. And then after the pandemic, they increased the bonuses less than they would have otherwise, during these first two years, “she said.” But now, health care costs are increasing and increasing faster than usual, partly due to inflation. “”
For group health plans, bonuses across the country have increased on average 7.8% this year before employers make changes to the design of benefits to moderate jumps, said Brooks Deibele, executive vice-president of the Office of Twin Cities in Holmes Murphy, consultant in benefits.
The increase has been the largest in more than a decade, said Deibele, and has been motivated by higher prices for health care, more a widely used prescription drug use. Initially with the pandemic, higher profits could have allowed certain health insurers to absorb part of the rate increases for customers the following year or two, he said. But this time is done.
“All the financial tail winds that the carriers had of the pandemic – we are far beyond that, at this stage,” said Deibele, who is the leader of the benefits of the company based in Iowa.
In 2020, the American health care system experienced a sharp drop in the use of preventive services such as colonoscopy and mammography as well as reductions in certain elective surgeries, said Christine Eibner, director of the payment, cost and health coverage program at Rand Corp., but it was not sufficient for the moment of the decline of office services via office visits.