John D. Bennett, M.D., president and chief executive of Capital District Physicians Health Plan, in Albany, N.Y., argues here that blaming insurance companies for rising premiums makes little sense, noting that just 10 percent of health-insurance premiums go to pay insurance plans.
He writes that U.S. physicians {who are by far the highest paid in the world} and hospitals account for 55 percent of health costs, while pharmaceuticals jumped to 22 percent last year from 16 percent the year before. Meanwhile, the percentage going to insurance plan administration has hit a historic low.
He complained that insurers have taken big financial hits on Affordable Care Act marketplace plans because many enrollees have been sicker and thus more expensive than expected. Meanwhile, he pointed to hospitals and drug companies that have have posted double-digit profits.
