10/05/2012 - Myclipp

Business Insurance/ - Article, Ter, 15 de Maio de 2012
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Supreme Court)
Average PPO cost per family hits all-time
high: Milliman
While cost increases for families enrolled in
employer-sponsored preferred provider organizations
have slowed since 2010, average total costs per family
still hit an all-time high, according to a report released
Tuesday by Seattle-based Milliman Inc.
Average health care costs for a family of four enrolled
in a PPO through an employer hit a record $20,786 in
2011, according to the 2012 Milliman Medical Index.
The 2012 figure represents a $1,335 increase, or
6.9%, over 2011. “The average rate of increase this
year dips below 7% for the first time since we began
analyzing these costs (in 2005), but the total dollar
increase is still the highest we have seen,” said
Lorraine Mayne, a Salt Lake City-based principal and
consulting actuary for Milliman. “This helps illustrate
the challenge of controlling health care costs. When
the total cost is already so high, even a slower rate of
growth has a serious impact on family budgets.”The
distribution of spending for the typical U.S. family
remains fairly even, the report said. Inpatient care and
physician services each account for 32% of spending
in a year, outpatient care accounts for 18% and
pharmacy services account for 15%.
Milliman"s study also analyzed health care costs in 14
cities in an effort to highlight the role that geographic
factors such as demographics and state insurance
laws play in determining health care costs for a typical
family. In all but three cities studied—Seattle, Atlanta
and Phoenix—health care costs exceeded $20,000 a
year, the report said. Nine out of the 14 cities studied
registered average per-family costs in excess of the
national average. Miami had the highest per-family
average cost of $24,965, while families in Phoenix
were the furthest below the national average at
$18,365.The report noted that the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act, which faces an uncertain
future as some of its core elements are evaluated by
the U.S. Supreme Court, has not yet had any
significant impact on health care costs for families
enrolled in PPO plans through an employer.Depending
on the Supreme Court"s decision—likely to be
rendered next month—the law"s effects could be much
more pronounced in the long term, the report said.
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