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Individual health insurance costs vary depending on factors like age, income, location, dependents, healthcare use, and policy type. In 2023, the national average monthly premium for an unsubsidized ACA silver plan was $541 for single coverage and $1,362 for a family of three.
Every year, the Kaiser Family Foundation surveys the costs of employer-sponsored health insurance, measuring trends in the total costs borne by both employers and covered employees and families.
As of 2023, the average employee contribution towards employer-sponsored insurance premiums was $659 per month for self-only coverage, and $1,871 per month for family coverage.
While average premium costs for employer-sponsored individual plans have remained relatively steady, family coverage premiums have increased by 20 percent over the past five years, and 43 percent over the previous decade.
Even with significant health insurance cost sharing by employees, health insurance premiums continue to weigh heavily on employers. On average, employers contributed around $6,500 per year towards individual premiums, and $16,300 towards family premiums as of 2023.
Even with employer-subsidized health insurance costs, workers and their families still face significant out-of-pocket costs in the form of deductibles before the insurance policies they pay high premiums for will begin to pay benefits.
The average deductible for single coverage for workplace plans in 2023 was $1,763. Deductibles for these plans have increased by approximately 13 percent over the past five years, and by a whopping 61 percent over the past decade.
There are multiple reasons why health insurance premiums have become so unaffordable without significant subsidies to mask the cost:
Also, health insurance plans are required by law to include many kinds of coverage that most people don’t want or need. For example, traditional insurance plans must cover the cost of drug and alcohol treatment, mental health care, and are increasingly required to cover controversial procedures like sex change operations.
The more types of coverage that politicians force insurance companies to pay for, the higher they drive up premiums.
Additionally, health insurance companies must take on all applicants within the open enrollment or special enrollment periods, regardless of their medical history. This also drives up costs.
Healthsharing plans, in contrast, have much more flexibility in plan design. Free from Affordable Care Act and other regulations that force them to pay for coverage that few or no members will actually need, they can reduce costs. But just how much money can Healthsharing save?
For example, health sharing plans frequently limit or exclude costs related to alcohol or drug addiction treatment, gender reassignment surgery, elective abortions, maternity care for unwed mothers, and injuries arising from drunk driving incidents – even as a passenger.
Healthshare plans also limit adverse selection by imposing waiting periods before costs related to treatment of pre-existing conditions become shareable.
They also frequently impose a waiting period before they will share costs for surgeries except for those arising from accidental and unforeseeable accidents.
Unlike traditional health insurance plans, which must accept everyone who applies during an open or special enrollment period and can pay the initial premium, healthsharing plans can be selective about who they take on.
Medical cost-sharing organizations typically require members to affirm that they live healthy lifestyles, do not drink to excess or abuse drugs, and do not engage in risky or irresponsible behavior that would drive up costs for other members.
Many healthsharing plans are faith-based, and only accept members who attend religious services regularly and/or agree to live their lives according to Biblical principles.
These factors all combine to allow healthsharing organizations to allow membership at a significantly lower cost compared to the unsubsidized cost of a traditional health insurance plan.
If you are in good health with no significant pre-existing conditions, and you don’t get a significant subsidy via the Affordable Care Act, switching to a healthsharing plan can save you thousands of dollars per year.
Typically, healthsharing plans save members 30 to 40 percent compared to the monthly cost of an unsubsidized traditional health insurance policy for an individual or small family purchased via your state’s ACA exchange.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the cost of an individual self-only ACA-qualified health insurance plan was $541 per month before subsidies.
The cost of an ACA-qualified health insurance plan covering a family was $1,362.
In contrast, multiple health sharing plans offer similar cost-sharing benefits for less than $350 for individuals, and less than $750 for families.
