, Columnists
Out-of-Pocket Health Costs Are Rising, But Not That Much
As a share of total health spending, they're actually shrinking.
Blood tests can seem outrageously expensive.
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“Dad, I got a bill for $1,113.” One of our daughters was incensed. “I went to my doctor with a simple question. She sent me downstairs where they drew a few tubes of blood for tests. It took two minutes. How do I owe over $1,000?”
She's not the only one outraged by out-of-pocket health costs in the U.S. Many of us feel we are paying more for less and less insurance coverage. We blame high-deductible plans, rising co-pays and other policies that seem to shift more costs onto patients. Headlines such as “Out-of-pocket health spending in 2016 increased at the fastest rate in a decade” amplify the unhappiness.