Posted April 14, 2014 – Blue Cross Blue Shield- Health Care Reform Blog

By: James LaCorte

Where does my health insurance premium really go? Health insurance customers often ask a simple question about the premium they pay every month:

Where does my premium dollar go? They’re usually not asking for a quick tutorial on how insurance works: Most people understand that everyone pays into a pool, and only those who need medical care take money out in the form of health care claims. What many of these folks really are asking is how much of that money actually pays for health care and how much goes toward running an insurance company — or toward profits.  Fair question.  Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) paid $5 billion in claims in 2013. Recently we announced that we spent almost 86 cents of every premium dollar paying for our customers’ health care – doctor visits, surgery, tests, medicine, eyeglasses, etc.

Our non-medical spending largely goes toward customer service and technology. We are also a full-taxed company. In 2013, we paid out more than $100 million in local, state and federal taxes.

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Smoking Increases Bladder Cancer Risk More Than Thought

Aug. 16, 2011 – Smoking may increase risk for bladder cancer even more than previously believed, and this risk is comparable among male and female smokers. The new study appears in the Aug. 17 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be about 69,250 new cases of bladder cancer diagnosed in 2011 and about 14,990 deaths from bladder cancer.

“Changing the composition of cigarettes may be associated with the strengthening of the association between smoking and bladder cancer risk,” says study author Neal D. Freedman, PhD, MPH, an investigator at the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Md.

Tobacco, Cigarettes Changed Over Time (more…)

There are a number of factors that are driving health insurance premiums. Increasing utilization attributable to an aging population, obesity and chronic illnesses; new treatments; prescription drugs and expensive new technologies are the biggest causes of increasing healthcare premiums. The new law establishes a few pilot programs, but does not aggressively attempt to control rising healthcare costs. 

We believe that premiums will increase as a result of provisions in the reform legislation that will guarantee richer levels of benefits than most consumers who obtain their own insurance purchase today. Insufficient discounts for the young and healthy will encourage many of them to forgo coverage. New fees and taxes mandated by the new law will also likely increase the cost of premiums as they are phased in. 

Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies will continue to work with doctors, hospitals, employers and consumers to rein-in costs and insurance premiums while improving access to quality healthcare. In doing this, many of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies have initiatives to reduce unnecessary hospital readmissions, eliminate infections acquired during hospital visits and promote paying doctors and hospitals for quality outcomes to help achieve this goal.

The above information is from a post by BCBSNC in 2010 and located at bcbsnc.com.

 For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our qualified agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.