Affordability
We have to do something different and better as a health care system.
The national average cost of insurance coverage for a family of four is around $25,000 per year. The price tags for prescription drugs and medical services are going up every year beyond the cost of inflation. Those increases affect the premiums our customers and members pay for health insurance.
From 2000 to 2024, prices for medical care increased 40% faster than everyday prices, like groceries and gas.
*Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
3 in 10 U.S. adults have cut pills in half, skipped a dose or taken an over-the-counter drug instead because of the cost for prescription drugs.
*Kaiser Family Foundation
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan paid $3 billion more for medical and pharmacy services for its members in 2024 than it did in 2023.
Blue Cross and its subsidiaries paid an average of $100 million per day for the care and benefits of members in Michigan. This is $12 million more per day than 2023.
Affordable health care coverage is the key to health care access and personal wellbeing. We need health care coverage to be affordable for people and for their employers.
The health care system has competing forces at work. Hospitals. Physicians. Drug companies. Insurance companies. Government programs and regulators. Each plays a different role – but we all serve the same people. And right now, we’re collectively failing to deliver the promise of affordable, accessible care for the people we serve.
Is health insurance the problem?
Insurance costs are the end of the equation. Health insurance costs are being driven by several factors: the health of members, outpatient care, inpatient care at hospitals, drug prices and administrative costs. We must find a collaborative solution
Prescription Drugs Cost Too Much
Health insurance is regulated. Hospitals are regulated. Prescription drug companies are not – and they are driving up costs. Government regulators must hold prescription drug companies accountable for the prices they set.
Hospitals Cost Too Much
Large hospitals are taking over smaller practices and after the takeover, you often get the same care in the same location from the same doctors—but at much higher prices. We need to stop unreasonable markups.
We're Using an Expensive Health Care System More Than Ever
Our population is aging and increasingly unwell with high rates of chronic conditions and unhealthy lifestyles leading to more need for medical interventions.
What is Blue Cross Going to Do About Affordability?
We will not rest while health care costs weigh more heavily on your budget. We will continue to work with doctors and hospitals to improve quality and lower the cost of the health care, improve health outcomes and explore new types of drugs and treatments at lower costs.
We stand for partnering.
Health care shouldn’t be a zero-sum game of winners and losers – but people are more often feeling like the deck is stacked against them. We must restore people’s faith that everyone can work together to develop solutions to provide them with health coverage and care that is affordable.
We stand for a well-regulated system.
Health insurance is regulated. Hospitals are regulated. Prescription drug companies are not – and they are driving up costs. Government regulators must hold prescription drug companies accountable for the prices they set.
We stand for innovation.
We will not rest while health care costs weigh more heavily on the budgets of employers and families. We will continue to work with doctors and hospitals to improve the quality and lower the cost of the health care they provide, improve the health outcomes people receive in the health care system, and explore new types of drugs and treatments to provide quality care at lower costs.
We act in service to our members and customers – always.
We have a responsibility to our members and customers to help manage the ever-increasing cost of care – and we deliver savings and value to them every day. Sometimes our responsibilities lead to us putting policies in place that people find restrictive or bureaucratic. We are always working to change that, getting members access to appropriate care faster, without compromising our responsibility to avoid waste and unnecessary costs that drive up the cost of health insurance for everyone
