Survey: Health insurance costs surged in 2011

My private health insurance went up 20%, that's with a $5000 deductible.

Health insurance rose 131% between 1999 and 2009 - the anger that it's still rising now an trying to blame that on obama is a joke. In fact it's the reason we do need healthcare reform. But this is what's bound to happen when corporations profit when people die.

why does prison trash get better healthcare and dental than many law abiding working people

Oh good, the "experts" say the increase will slow again next year. Thank you experts

The same experts who when everything else goes wrong the headline reads: "Stocks Plummet Unexpectedly" "Gas Prices Rise Unexpectedly" "Housing Plummets Unexpectedly"

If pros and cons are opposite, is progress the opposite of congress?

I have an idea... Let's legislate and regulate health care in this country to make it too expensive and so dysfunctional that the people will demand government take it over. Then all the problems with health care will be fixed. Right?

How come most of the people I know who are against some from of equal distribution of healthcare are either on medicare, retirement benefits, work for the government, or their parents and/or trust fund covers their healthcare.
Its really obnoxious! I mean a few of us have healthcare through our work, but the majority of those folks understand the need for a different system, maybe because we are closer to losing it than the above?

Medical costs represented about %17 of GDP in the U.S.. I have never seen insurance premiums go down, EVER.

My mother in law recently had a knee replacement. My wife, who is an RN estimated the gross costs for the procedure to be about 800k$ before insurance. The problem here is that no one is willing to track down where the dollars are going. Sure, that is an extensive procedure; but I highly doubt the professionals who did it actually took home 10% of that figure. There is a man behind the curtain, Dorothy. Some one has to be willing to pull the curtain aside before we can fix this monster. I suspect there are way too many insurance executives and trial lawyers getting way too rich with this system. But until anyone is willing to follow the money to get the data and identify the culprits, there is zero hope. None. These people will destroy our country before they will give up their golden goose. Oh, lets see, who controls Congress.....

Last spring I had an upper respiratory infection. My doctor was full-up so the office told me to go to the urgent care center. I saw a doctor for 10 minutes, long enough to write a prescription for antibiotics. When I got the bill, it was $678. See anything wrong with this picture?

If only Congress and the President had to get health insurance the same way we poor working class stiffs do!

As I read the comments on here it becomes more and more apparent that this country has reached the tipping point. It is clear that there are no candidates, known or unknown, who can or will be able to clean up the mess that this country has become. When you consider just the fact that about 2 per cent of the population controls 95 per cent of the wealth and that the corporate lobbying power has congress in its back pocket it should be clear that nothing is going to change. The middle class is in a downward spiral with no signs of pulling out. Things that my generation took for granted are no longer affordable.....things like medical care and education. Do you really expect anything to change? Blame Obama, blame Bush, blame the Easter Bunny...it doesn't matter. Greed will eventually destroy all good and you will all wind up in the same place. Maybe it would be better to learn to pull together since the time is coming when you will all be in the same boat.

Health insurers simply raises rates because Americans make it too easy not to and usually just 'roll over' and accept them. The same can be said about the ever increasing outsourcing of 5-6 figure jobs to China and other low and slave wage countries.
Fight back America!!!

Totally false!!!! Someone's lying through their teeth or they're "Cooking the Books."Since 2007 my Kaiser Foundation Family premiums for family coverage rose as follows:2008: Up 8%2009: Up 18%2010: Up 23%2011: Up 19%Today I'm paying 87% more for family health care than I was in 2006, and my hourly wages from where I work have risen 0%.It appears that the only one's fooled by the false percentages put out by the Health Insurance Companies are our governing representives in Washington DC. Washington needs to wake up and listen to the people who elected them and quit kissing the #$%$amp;#39;$ of the Health Insurances Companies that stuff their pockets.If Washington had any ball's (or other), they would take action to put a freeze on ALL Health Care increases across the intire Country until such time our economy gets itself back on it's feet. Say about 10 years?

Have you ever gone through the Er's in most of Sacramento's Kaiser Hospitals? It is like you just got off a plane in Mexico. Somebody has to pay the costs of treating these people; guess who that would be?

If Obamacare is so great why are there thousands of WAIVERS Already..hmmm

9% my #$%$ I run a company with about 150 eligible employees and I just got a notice that the basic HMO premium will be up 18% next year. This roughly translates into $120 per person per month or over $1,400 a year. When I multiply this by 150 employees I have a nice increase of over $200K per year. This is what I call a highway robbery! With the economy the way it is right now there's no way in hell to compensate for this kind of an increase but to cut a couple of people. This is sad!!!!!!!!!!

Mine went down!! and so did my daughters on another plan. I don't believe everything I read

Fortunately, I have insurance through my husbands work. But just this morning in my office they received a notice saying insurance costs will be increased in January by 33% that is a lot of money for the average worker. When will the gouging stop?