Why coronavirus is a recipe for disaster for health insurance
Yahoo Finance’s Adriana Belmonte joins Seana Smith to break down why the coronavirus could be disastrous for the U.S. health insurance system.
Video Transcript
SEANA SMITH: Well, I also want to turn to what we are seeing in the health care sector these days. So the coronavirus outbreak obviously putting a huge train-- or strain on the health care system over the last several weeks. Now insurers, they are at the center of all this. And there's new analysis showing that it could prove to be a disaster on the US health care system here, at least in the short term.
We have Adrianna Belmonte here. And Adriana, you were going through this new analysis, and it's all about projected costs. What can you tell us at this point?
ADRIANA BELMONTE: Yeah, so there is this report out, and it's projecting the-- how premiums and health care costs could be dramatically increasing over the next year as a result of coronavirus. So, for example, they are projecting that premiums could increase anywhere from 4% to over 40%, which is a huge range. And additionally, they're saying that health care costs related to coronavirus could range from $34 billion all the way to $250 billion, so really big ballpark here. And the key is that there's so much uncertainty about what's going on that they can't really nail down a specific number yet.
SEANA SMITH: Yeah, Adriana, when we take a look at how premiums could skyrocket, obviously that's a huge concern for a lot of our viewers because that means that's the amount that you have to pay in order to have health insurance. Is there any indication just in terms of maybe employers will no longer be able to afford the same type of coverage that they're now offering their employees this year because of the potentially higher charges that they could be facing from the insurers?
ADRIANA BELMONTE: It's definitely a possibility. That's a big concern that one of the experts I spoke to raised. He said that if there isn't a concerted effort to drive down some of the costs of health care, both small and large businesses could start to decide to opt out of health care coverage. And that results in millions more of uninsured Americans. And he described it as what could create an economic tsunami and a recipe for disaster.
SEANA SMITH: All right, Adriana Belmonte, thanks so much for bringing that to us.
